A Companion to " The Lady's New Receipt-Book." 



t\\ 



-W!^ 



MISS LESLIE'S 



LADY'S HOUSE-BOOK; 



A MANUAL OP 



DOMESTIC ECONOMY, 



CONTAINING APPROVED DIRECTIONS FOR 



WASHING, 

URESS-MAKING, 

MILLINERY, 

DYEING, 

CLEANING, 

QUILTING, 



TABLE-LINEN, 
WINDOW- WASHING, 
AYOOD-FIRES, 
STRAW BONNETS, 
SILK STOCKINGS, 
RAG CARPETS, 



PLATED-WARE, 
PORCELAIN, 
HOUSE-CLEANING, 
LAUNDRY- WORK, 
COAL-GRATE FIRES, 
EVENING PAKTxES, Ac 



NINETEENTH EDITION, ENLARGED. 



WITH NUMEROUS ADDITIONAL EECEIPT8 FOB 



REMOVING STAINS EROM SILKS, WOOLLENS, COTTONS JTCl, 




•] Kj^ff,'^^^'^ ^ €ije^ 



BEING A COMPANION TO , 

"MISS LESLIE'S LADY'S NEW RECEIPT-BOOK." 
PHILADELPHIA : 

HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHER, 

No. 406 WALNUT STREET. 

1863. 



xv!^ 






y^%i^ 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1840, by 

E. L. Caeey & A. Hart, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Eastern District of 
Pennsylvania. 

Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1850, by 

A. IIakt, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Eastern District ol 
Pennsylvania. 



COLLINS, PRINTER. 



PREFACE. 



The design of the following work is to impart to novices in 
bouse-keej)ing some information on a subject which is, or ought 
<o be, important to every American female, so that they may 
be enabled, to instruct unpractised domestics, or, in case of 
jmergency, to assist personally in forwarding the indispensable 
work of the family. More than nine-tenths of these receipts 
are entirely original ; all are expressly adapted to the meridian 
of our own country ; and though they generally refer to the 
condition of families in what is termed genteel life, a large 
number of them may be found useful in houses where close 
economy is expedient. 

It has Sfeen the design of the author to make her directions 
as plain and intelligible as possible, and therefore she has 
thought it best to explain every particular with unusual minute- 
ness, as if addressed to persons who were totally ignorant of 
the subjects in question. In this, as in her Cookery Book, she 
has not scrupled, when necessary, to sacrifice the sound to the 
sense ; repeating the same words when no others could be found 
to express the purport so clearly; and being always more 
anxious to convey the meaning in such terms as could not be 
mistaken, than to risk obscuring it by attempts at refined 
phraseology or well-rounded periods. 

Complaints are incessantly heard of the deterioration of ser- 
vants; but may not one source of this growing evil be traced 
to the deterioration of mistresses in the knowledge and practice 
of all that is necessary to a well-ordered household. A great 
change has certainly taken place since the days when, during 
the ptesidency of her husband, Mrs. Washington, followed by 
a servant-man with a basket, went daily to Philadelphia mar- 
ket ; and when the all -accomplished daughters of Mr. .Tefferson 
made pastry and confectionary in a room fitted up for that pur- 
pose in their father's mansion at Monticello. 

3 



4 PREFACE. 

While we regret the present system of education, in which 
all things are taug-ht (or rather attempted) except that whicii 
io every American female must at some period of her life be 
absolutely necessary, we would not have our young married 
ladies discouraged if, on first assuming the charge of a house, 
they find themselves subjected to much perplexity and incon- 
venience from ignorance of their new task. A competent 
knowledge of household affairs is by no means difiicult to 
acquire, and is within the reach of every woman of tolerable 
capacity, who has a proper conviction of its utility, and an 
earnest desire to profit b}'' all opportunities of improvement in 
its pursuit. It is a homely but a true saying, that " where 
there is a will there is a way." 

. A neat and well-conducted house, with fires and ligrhts 
always as they should be; and a table where the food is invit- 
ing, from being good both in material and cooking; also clothes 
well washed and ironed, are comforts that are not lightly prized 
by any married man; and it is but just that he wlfl perhaps 
labours hard in his business or profession to procure the means 
of obtaining them, should not be disappointed in their applica- 
tion; particularly when the deficiencies are caused by the 
inertness or the mismanagement of the woman who should 
consider it her especial care to render his home agreeable to him. 
Should this book have any effect in directing the attention 
of her young countrywomen to a subject of far more importance 
to their married happiness than the cultivation of showy accom- 
plishments, or the unavailing pursuit of studies that to females 
are always abstruse ; should it, on trial, be found a useful aux- 
iliary to practised house-keepers, in furnishing them with addi- 
tional hints, or new and easy modes of doing things that have 
always been done, its object will be accomplished ; leaving 
the author with the gratification of knowing that she has not 
written in vain. 
Philadelphia, February \9th, 1840. 



CONTENTS. 



Launduy Work : — Waibhing, Ironing, Clear-starching, Doing 

' up Lace, «Scc • • • • ^ 

Removing Stains and Ghease : — Taking out Ink, Lamp-oil, 

Paint, Acids, &c "^^ 

Domestic Dyes • ^■^ 

CouNTRT Manner of Dyeing Yarn 101 

Tnsects, Rats, Mice, *&c 105 

Fuel, Fires. &c.: — Management of wood and coal Fires in 

Grates and Stoves 121 

I /iGiiTS : — Management of Lamps, Tapers, Candle-making, &c. 155 

Furniture : — Cleaning Carpets, Curtains, Mahogany, Silvea, 

Glass, Knives and Forks, Brass, Sec 171 

The Kitchen : — Its Furniture and Utensils 227 

The Dining-room: — Table Furniture, Waiting on Table, 

Carving, &c • 250 

Bed-chambers: — Bed-room Furniture, Keeping it clean, «Si:c. 296 

House-cleaning :— White-washing, Cleaning Paint, Scrub- 
bing, Preparing Rooms for Summer, Packing Furni- 
ture, &c 3^^ 

Miscellaneous Articles:— Keeping a Cow, Poultry, Bees, 

Making Inks, Making Colours, &;c 355 

Sewing Work:— Making up Linen, Hints on Dress-making. 332 

1* 5 • 



THE 



HOUSE BOOK. 



THE LAUNDRY. 

No large house should be without a laundry, or place ap- 
propriated to the work connected with washing and ironing. 
A back kitchen may easily be fitted up for this purpose. It 
should have a large fire-place for the convenience of boiling 
several kettles of water at a time, if necessary, and for heating 
the irons. A pump or hydrant should either be within the 
laundry or close to the door : also a sink for disposing of the 
dirty water. All the water used for washing must be soft, 
otherwise the clothes cannot be made clean. Soap, instead of 
d.ssolving and forming a suds, will always curdle and float on 
the surface of water that is either hard from being impreg- 
nated with lime or other mineral substances, or brackish from 
Its vicinity to the sea. The best way of softening hard water, 
when no other can be obtained, is to mix with it a large quan- 
tity of strong lye, (in the proportion of one gallon of lye to 
three or four of water,) or to stir into it a little potash, which 
last must be sparingly used, or it will injure the clothes by 
making them so tender that they will soon go to pieces. 

Jn places where all the pump or well-water is hard, and the 



8 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

running water saltish, it is usual to save rain-water for wash- 
ing purposes, by catching it in cisterns, casks, or tubs, placed 
under the water-spouts. Rain-water casks should always 
have covers to prevent impurities from getting into the water. 
They should stand on feet, and be furnished with a spigot for 
drawing the water when wanted. Unless you have abundance 
of water, it is impossible to wash the clothes clean, or to 
make them of a good colour ; and where a sufficiency can be 
obtained, no good washer will be sparing in the use of it. 
Washing in dirty suds is of very little avail. 

In America most families have their washing done once a 
week. This is much better, in some respects, than the Euro- 
pean custom of monthly or quarterly washes, as the clothes 
derive great injury from lying in their dirt; and also a quantity 
of clothing, often inconveniently large, is requisite when the 
intervals between the washes are so very long. 

May we be allowed to suggest that Tuesday (though con- 
trary to the usual custom), is a more convenient day for wash- 
ing than Monday ; as some previous preparation is always ne- 
cessary the afternoon or evening before; such, for instance, 
as looking out and assorting the clothes, putting some of them 
in soak, ripping certain things apart, and replacing buttons, 
hooks, and strings that have been broken off; not to mention 
the probability that some articles, which were put on quite 
clean on Sunday, might very well be worn one day more; 
though it would not be considered worth while to keep them 
out of the wash till next week. When it is done weekly, it 
is rarely necessary to devote more than one day to washing, 
and another to ironing ; and we opine that, in general, it is bet 
ter those two days should be Tuesday and Wednesday, rather 
tnan Monday and Tuesday. W^lien it can be deferred, wash- 
ing should never be done on a rainy day, for many reasons 



THE LAUNDRY. 9 

For instance, it is not well to have the clothes lying all nicrhl 
in the tuhs, neither will starch take effect in damp weather. 
At all events, the coloured things and the muslins should be 
left till it clears up. If the family is large, it is best not to 
have the small muslins, laces, &c., done with the general 
wash. Blankets, chintz curtains, and other large extra thino-g 
should always be washed at extra times, and at a season when 
the days are long and bright. Where there are many muslins 
and laces, it is frequently more convenient to devote a morn- 
ing expressly to the purpose of doing them up, than to put 
them in the general wash. 

It is a great convenience to have in the laundry a large deep 
closet for holding the utensils necessary for the process of 
washing. For instance, the kettles, tubs, buckets, clothes- 
baskets, starch-pans, lines, pegs, washing-boards ; and also the 
ironing apparatus. 

Each of the women engaged in washing should be provided 
with one of the well-known grooved or fluted boards, which, 
by standing them up in the tub of suds and rubbing the clothes 
upon them, will greatly save the hands and expedite the work. 
They cost but a trifle, and can be procured wherever wooden 
ware is sold. 

The best and most durable clothes-lines are those of horse- 
hair, or of twisted sea-grass. Let them always be wiped 
before they are put .up, and taken down as soon as all" the 
clothes are brought in. There should be a sufficient number 
of cleft wooden p3gs to secure the clothes on the lines. 

There should be tall posts along the yard, at a convenient 
distance from the fence or wall, for the purpose of fastening 
the lines, which may also be propped in the middle by long 
forked sticks, the largest end resting on the ground. 

The laundry should be furnished with broad stout benche* 



10 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

of a convenient height, to .hold the tubs when the women aie 
standing at them. 

It is well to have a lye-barrel at hand, that lye (which is 
good for so many purposes) may be ready at any time. Also 
a barrel of soft soap, and a tin or iron ladle for dipping it out. 
The large wooden folding frames called clothes-horses are 
mdispensable in a laundry ; either for the purpose of drying 
wet clothes by the fire when necessary, or for spreading out 
the clothes after ironing, to free them from all remaining damp- 
ness. These clothes-horses should have broad substantial 
feet, so that they may not be easily overset. 

In summer the perfect drying of the ironed white clothes 
may be completed by hanging them out in the sun. 

There should be large tubs for soaking the uncolou:ed 
clothes over night. In soaking coarse heavy clothes, mix two 
quarts of lye in the water of a large tub. 

You should have a long round hickory stick, somewhat flat- 
tened at one end, to stir the clothes while boiling — and a long 
stout hickory fork, with which to lift them out of the hot water 
without scalding your hands. 

Either the oval tin cups that hook on to the edge of the tub, 
or small wooden or earthen bowls, should be provided for each 
of the washers to put their soap in ; it will waste greatly if 
they keep it all the time in the tub, and if they lay it beside 
them on the sloppy bench it will be continually slipping 
iown. 

The indigo bag for blueing the rinsing water should be 
made of new white flannel. The usual form is square, sewed 
all round at the edges, leaving a small opening at the top tc 
put in the indigo; which opening must always be sewed up 
after replenishing the bag with a fresh supply. When yov 
use it, hold the bag in the water, pressing it with your fingers 



THE LAUNDRY. II 

U^l you have squeezed out sufficient blue to give a very light 
Unge. Then paddle your hand through the water to diffuse 
the colour equally. 

Have large strong bags to put the dirty clothes in as 
you take them off. The bags should be of substantial brown 
linen, or else of ticking, with a string of strong tape sewed 
to the side-seam a little below the hem at the top. If the 
clothes are left lying loose in the bottom of a closet (as is 
the custom in many houses,) they may be injured by the nib 
bling of mice or of. cockroaches. Let there be a separate 
bag for the small muslins, &c. 

In the laundry closet should be kept all the articles neces- 
sary for washing and ironing. Among them, a black bottle 
containincr ox-srall, which will be found most useful for co- 
loured things, as it will greatly add to the clearness of their 
colours. A gall can be procured from the butcher for a trifle, 
(generally six cents,) and no house should be without it. It 
should be poured through a funnel into the bottle, and kept 
closely corked. During the process of drying, the air will 
entirely dispel the odour of the gall : but, if you choose, you 
may scent it in the bottle by adding a little tincture of musk. 

A large brass or copper kettle is an indispensable article for a 
laundry ; as an iron pot will stain the clothes. Where there is a 
great deal of washing, two kettles will be found very convenient. 
For a laundry, a large fire-place is better than a stove, as the 
latter will make the room intolerably hot in the summer. In 
English wash-houses there is always a great copper kettle set 
in brick and mortar, with a place for fire underneath. This is 
a good contrivance, and saves the trouble of lifting the large 
kettle on and off: and of course precludes any danger of its 
oversetting. We are glad tD find that this apparatus is coming 
•nto use in America. 



12 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

Ironing tables should at least be large enough for two persons 
to iron on at a time, and should stand facing the light, that the 
women may see perfectly what they are about. There is a 
very convenient ironing-board, which, when not in use, turns 
up, and forms a high back to a bench or settle : which bench 
should have a draw^er beneath it large enough to contain the 
blanket, sheet, holders, &c. 

The best iron-stands are those with feet and handles. If a 
mere ring, they are likely to scorch the blanket, and to* burn 
the fingers in removing them. 

Holders should be made of square folds of clean old flannel, 
covered with calico and sewed at the edges. They should on 
no account be stuflfed or interlined with wadding or cotton, as 
these substances, being very inflammable, will cause the holders 
to blaze up in a moment, if a spark should touch them in taking 
the iron f^om the fire. 

Old soft towels, or pieces of old sheets or table-cloths, make 
excellent iron-wdpers. They should be kept entirely free from 
grease or wet, and never used for any purpose but the proper 
one. 

The ironing blanket should be large, smooth, and thick, as 
well as the sheet that is to be spread over it when used. There 
must not, in either, be any holes pr patches, as those defects 
will cause the surface to be uneven, and prevent the clothes 
from ironing smoothly. 

Bits of bees-wax should be kept at hand to rub (for an instant) 
over the irons as they are taken from the fire, to remove any 
smoke or roughness that may adhere to them. 

It is well to have a strong bag always hanging in the laundry 
to contain the bees-wax, indigo bag, bits of spermaceti, an 
other little things belonging to washing and ironing. 

There should be regular w^hite cotton cloth kept exclusively 



LAUNDRY WORK. 13 

cl& purpose of straining starch : always wastiing it out and 
rying it before it is put away. 

A mangling machine, for the purpose of smoothing table and 
bed linen and various other things, will be found well worth its 
cost, in saving the time and trouble of ironing these articles, 
and in the superiority which it gives to their appearance. 

Skirt-boards are very convenient for ironing the skirts of 
dresses. Also bosom-boards for shirts. 

When the washing is over for the day, the tubs, buckets, &c., 
should be make clean and turned up to dry ; all the articles 
used should be put away in their proper places, and the floor 
wiped up with a mop or cloth. 

Tubs, buckets, barrels, churns, and other utensils of cooper- 
work, should never be left out of doors when empty : as the 
sun and air will contract the wood and open the. seams, causing 
the vessel to leak. 

All these things will last much longer if painted on the out- 
side. 

In Philadelphia it is very customary for families, as well as 
single persons, to put out their washing. There are many 
excellent washerwomen who take it by the month or quarter, at 
a very reasonable price ; and if the washing only is put out, 
and the clothes brought rough-dried to be ironed at home, the 
expense will be found scarcely, if at all, to exceed that of hav- 
ing it done in your own house ; and you are relieved from the 
trouble and inconvenience of a washing-day. 



TO MAKE LYE. — For this purpose hickory ashes is trie 
best : but good oak ashes will do very well. Ashes of anthra- 
cite coal cannot be used for lye. 

For very fine lye of moderate strength, the ashes must oe 

sifted or riddled through a strong wire sieve, to free it from bi is 

2 



14 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

of cinder. To two quarts of hickory ashes, or three quarts of 
oak, allow a gallon of soft water. Boil the water by itself; 
and then, when scalding hot, pour it on the ashes ; let it stand 
till quite cold. Afterwards, strain the lye through a clean 
coarse cloth into another vessel. It should be quite clear. 

Another way of making lye is to put into a kettle two quarts 
of hickory or three quarts of oak ashes. Pour on four quarts 
of cold soft water ; boil it ; and when it comes to a hard boil, 
take it off the iire, and put it aside to settle. Then pour it from 
the dregs or sediment through a clean coarse cloth, and 
strain it. 

In boiling white clothes, put a large tea-cupful of clear lye 
into the wash-kettle. This is the proper proportion to two 
buckets of water. 

In washing black worsted clothes, such as bombazines, 
bombazets, black merinos, &c., put a tea-cupful of lye into the 
first water. It will make the black colour look bright and fresh. 

Lye will set the colour of new nankeen. Before it is made 
up, the nankeen should be soaked all night in a tub of clear 
lye, moderately strong. If the nankeen is of real Chinese 
manufacture, and not the imitation that is made in Europe, soak- 
ing it in lye before it is cut out, will prevent it from fading ever 
after. 



TO KEEP SOAP-FAT FROM MOULDING— When 

you have collected a targe quantity of kitchen fat, you may 
prevent it from spoiling in the crocks, and have it ready at any 
tim^Jbr soap, by making a weak lye on purpose, and boiling 
the fat in it till it is thoroughly melted. The fat will rise to 
the top of the 'kettle. Set it away in the kettle to cool. When 
quite cold, you may take it off in a round cake. Wrap the 
cake closely in clean brown paper, (so as entirely to eydude 



LAUNDRY WORK. 15 "" 

ihe air,) and keep it in a dry place. This is an excellent way 
of preserving the fat through the summer, to be made into soap 
in the autumn. 



ANOTHER WAY. — Some good housewives who keep a 
perpetual lye-barrel, keep also a covered tub half-filled with 
lye, into which they throw, every day, whatever kitchen fat is 
proper for soap making. This will effectually preserve it from 
moulding, till you wish to use it for soap. An old meat-tub 
will answer very well for this purpose. It must be kept covered. 



TO MAKE SOFT SOAP.— Soft soap is a most useful 
article in washing heavy clothes, and in scrubbing floors. 
When using it, keep it beside you in a tin pan. It can easily 
be made in any house where wood is burned, though in cities 
it is the usual custom to exchange fat and ashes for hard soap. 
You should keep in the cellar large earthen crocks as recep- 
tacles for all the grease and fat that comes from the kitchen, 
such as bits of the fat of meat, bacon skins, drippings, &c. 
The fat of beef and pork makes the best soap. The crocks 
should have tin or wooden covers. There should be a separate 
place in the cellar for the wood ashes, and great care is neces- 
•ary in putting it away, to see that there are no bits of hot coal 
\mong it; as houses have taken fire from a neglect of this 
precaution. For making soap, the ashes should be as fresli 
and new as possible ; and of good oak, with a small mixture 
of hickory : for instance, one-fourth. It can be made, however, 
though not quite so good, with oak ashes only. 

You must have an ash-tub or barrel, which should be tall 
and high : but is best of a funnel shape, narrowing c'owr. 
towards the bottom; and in the bottom should be a hole not 
larger in diameter than a half dollar. The ash-tub should stand 



IG THE HOUSE BOOK. 

on wooden skids or legs, high enough to admit a large commow 
tub underneath. Lay several bricks inside the bottom round 
ihe hole. The bricks are for the purpose of keeping up the 
ashes. Then cover both bricks and hole with a layer of straw, 
through which the lye is to filter. Then fill the barrel with 
five or six bushels of ashes packed down hard, (but not quite 
full to the top,) and set a large clean tub underneath. Pour in 
sufficient boiling water (about two or three buckets full) to 
moisten the ashes throughout ; as beginning with hot water is 
a very quickening process in making the lye. It will be a great 
improvement to mix with the boiling water about two gallons 
of slacked lime, or one of unslacked. Then pour in a gallon 
or more of cold water, about once an hour for a whole day. 

Next day try the lye that has dripped into the tub beneath. 
The first will be very strong, but it will gradually become 
weaker. The proper strength for beginning the soap is when an 
egg placed in the lye-tub will continue at the top with only about 
the size of a ten cent piece appearing above the surface of the 
lye. If nearly the whole egg, or indeed the half of it keeps 
above, the lye is too strong. If the egg sinks entirely below 
the surface, the lye is quite too weak. If you find it impos- 
sible otherwise to get the lye of sufficient strength, you must 
empty out all the ashes, fill the barrel afresh, and go through 
the whole process again, as weak lye will never make soap. 

When you find that the lye is of the proper quality, take 
away the tub, and place another one under the barrel to catch 
the weaker drippings, which you must keep to fill up the soap- 
pot when necessary. 

To begin the soap ; — allow about three pounds of fat to a 
bucket of lye. Put the fat by itself into a very large kettle 
over a hot fire, and melt it; stirring it well with a round ►tick 
flattened at one end. When the fat has all moL'ed, ponr u ^he 



LAUNDRY WORK. 17 

Strong lye by degi-ees; stirring it well, (and always one way,) 
till the fat and the lye are thoroughly incorporated. Then 
moderate the fire, and boil it slowly and steadily all day, till 
it becomes thick and ropy, stirring it occasionally. A piece 
of lime thrown in while boiling, will improve it. If it boils 
too hard, it will go over. If not boiled enough, the soap will 
turn again to lye. If, in boiling, the fat disappears entirely 
from the top, fidd more fat, as there should be some indication 
of it on the surface. If there should happen to be too much 
fat, it can be skimmed off when the soap is cold. As it boils, 
continue to fill it up with lye till the soap becomes of a proper 
consistence. If the lye is too strong, it will not unite with it. 
Try the soap by occasionally taking out some in a dish or 
ladle, and setting it in the open air. It should be of a bright 
brown colour, and clear, and thick as a jelly when cold. 

When done, pour it off into tubs or buckets, and carry it 
into the cellar to cool. When cold, empty it into a barrel : 
keep it in a dry place, and stir it frequently with a long stick 
during the first three or four days. It will then be fit for use. 
You should make your soap in the spring or autumn. If good 
it will keep more than a year. 

If you intend to make two kettles full of soap, divide the 
strong lye and reserve one half for the second kettle. 



COMMON HARD SOAP.— Having made from hickory 
ashes, or the best oak, a sufficient quantity of lye, which must 
be strong enough to bear up an egg, allow to each gallon three- 
quarters of a pound of clean kitchen fat of the best kind, (that 
has been clarified by melting it with water,) and a bit of lime 
the size of a large hickory nut. .Put it into a large kettle, boil 
it very fast, and stir it frequently. It must boil hard for several 
hours. Try it by taking out a little and cooling it on a plate. 

2* 



18 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

When you find that it becomes a thick jelly, and no grease 
appears about it, stir fine salt into the kettle, allowing a pint 
of salt to three gallons of the soap. Let it boil for ten minutes 
after the salt is in. Then take it out of the kettle and put the 
soap in tubs to cool, and wash the kettle clean. Next day cut 
the soap out of the tubs, and melt it again, and cool it iii wooden 
moulds, if you have them. When it is firm, cut it into square 
pieces, of convenient size for washing, and place it on shelves 
to harden, not allowing the pieces to touch each other. 

The best kitchen fat for soap is that of beef and pork or 
bacon. Should any pork or bacon skins be among it, you must 
allow a pound of fat to each gallon of lye. 

If, in trying it in the plate, before putting in the salt, you find 
the soap too liquid, add a little water to that on the plate, for 
the purpose of making it jelly. You will then be able to 
ascertain how much cold water must be added to that in the 
kettle for the same purpose ; it being evident that the lye is toe 
strong. This must be. done before the salt is put in. 

A larger quantity of lime, put in while boiling, will make 
the soap still harder. 

You may harden it also, by adding, while the soap is boil- 
ing, a little sulphate of iron. This will give it a marbled oi 
mottled appearance. 



FINE HARD SOAP.— Take fifteen pounds of the best 
lard, or of clean fresh suet. Put it into a large kettle, hang it 
over a moderate fire, and make it boil. Have ready a quantity 
of excellent clear lye, five gallons of which must be strong 
enough to bear up an egg. Add with a ladle, a very little at a 
time of this lye to the fat in the kettle, and put it in slowly 
for a while at first ; otherwise, it will instantly cause the fat to 
rise up so high as to overflow, and perhaps endanger. the person 



LAUNDIIV WORK. 19 

that is making the soap. When this tendei^cy to effervesce 
seems to diminish, the lye may he poured in by larger quanti- 
ties. Keep the kettle boiling thus (and well skimmed) till all 
the five gallons of strong lye have been put in. Then add 
another gallon of lye, weakened by an equal quantity of water. 
The whole will then have the appearance of liquid soap. Then 
try a small quantity by putting it into cold water, and if no 
particles of grease appear on the top, it will be in a fit state tc 
receive the salt which is to harden it. If you see any grease, 
add some more lye, and give it another boil up. "When you 
find it in proper order, stir in gradually three quarts of fine salt. 
Then try the soap by taking out a small portion, and setting it 
to cool. If it does not seem sufficiently stiff, or likely to harde-a 
well, add another quart of salt, and give it another boil up. 

The soap will now be all towards the top of the kettle, and 
the lye beneath it at the bottom. Skim dff the soap, taking 
care not to stir it so as to mix in the lye through it. Put it 
into square pans or moulds, and set it away to harden thoroughly. 
The l)''e that remains at the bottom of the kettle should be 
saved for washingr coarse clothes. 

When your soap has become quite hard, take it out of the 
moulds or pans and lay it on boards to dry thoroughly. The 
above quantity of ingredients will, if properly paanaged, 
produce thirty-five pounds of firm, close, fine soap. 

If your lard or suet is not of the very best quality, take it oft 
after it is all melted, strain it, and return it to the kettle, before 
you begin to put in the lye. 

To perfume it, take a portion and melt it over again, first 
Cvitting it into small pieces. Then, while liquid, beat it in a 
KLDrtar with tincture of music, oil of bergamot, oil of almonds, 
p5.\lm oil, or any -other essential oil that has a fine scent, and is 
nc*"- so pungent as to irritate ^3 sJdn. Then, when 'A is 



20 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

thoroughly imbued with the perfume, put it into small square 
till moulds, and set it in a cold place to harden. 



STARCH OF HOME MANUFACTURE.— Take a peck 

of ungTound wheat of the best quality ; pick and wash it care- 
f'lUy. Next put it- into a tub ; pour on sufficient clear soft 
water to cover it, and then set it in the sun. Be sure to 
change the water every day : keeping it in the sun as much as 
possible, or in an equally warm place in the house, should the 
weather prove unfavourable. When all the grains of wheat 
have become quite soft, rub it well in your hands, and separate 
it from the husks, which must be thrown into another tub. 
Let the soft wheat settle into a mass ; and then pour off the 
water, and put on fresh. Stir it well, and let it settfe again. 
Repeat this every day, till the last \yater comes off clear and 
colourless. Then pour the water finally off. Take the starch 
out of the tub, collect it into a thin bag, and hang it for a few 
days in the sun; after which, spread it on dishes to dry. 



TO PREPARE COMMON STARCH.— Put a sufficient 
quantity of dry starch (for instance from two to three table- 
spoonfuls) into a bowl, and mix it gradually with just enough 
of clear cold water to malte it a thin paste, pressing out all 
the lumps with the back of the spoon till you get it perfectly 
smooth. Then pour it into a clean pipkin or skillet. Have 
ready a kettle of boiling water, and by degrees add some of it 
to the starch, stirring it well. You may allow from a pint to 
a quart of the hot water, according as you wish to have the 
starch thick, thin, or moderate. Set it on hot coals, and boil 
it well for half an hour. If not well boiled, it will not be 
glutinous. When it has boiled Ji'bout fifteen minutes, stir it v 
lew tfjnc5S (merely for a momesit ach) with the end of a spei 



LAUNDRY WORK. VI 

mace i candle. This will prevent its being sticKy; but take 
care rot to stir it too much. If you have no spermaceti,. sprin- 
kle in o little salt, (about a tea-spoonful to a pint of search, 
which ^'ill answer a similar purpose, or throw in a lump o. 
loaf surar. Finish by stirring it hard with a spoon. 

Strair. the starch through a white cloth into a large pan, anf' 
squeeze into it a very little blue from the indigo bag; but i 
must be I lU a very little. 

For con.-mon coloured dresses you may make the starch with 
fine flour n> 'ced as above. 



GUM AROIC STARCH.— GeUwo ounces of fine white 
gum arable, and pound it to powder. Next put it into a 
pitcher, and pour on it a pint or more of boiling water, (ac- 
cording to the degree of strength you desire,) and then, hav- 
mg covered it, Itt it set all night. In the morning, pour it 
carefully from th \ i^regs into a clean bottle, cork it, and keep 
it for use. 

A table-spoonfui' of gum water stirred into a pint of starch 
that has been made in the usual manner, will give to lawns 
(either white or painted) a look of newness to which nothing 
else can restore them a/te?* washing. 

It is also good (mud cUuted) for thin white muslin and 
bobbinet. 



COFFEE STARCH.- -This is excellent for mourning 
chintzes, or for any thing tha^ is very dark ; the common 
starch giving a whitish, ashy, c \ dusty appearance to these ar- 
ticles. Make, in the usual manner, a tea-cupful of strong 
?offee; mix it with an equal quantity of cold water, and hen 
•loil it. In the mean time, mix tvo tcble-sp.onfuJs c l.\e 
finest dry starch with enough of cold water to make it a 



22 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

smooth paste. There must both together be a pint, when 
the starch paste is added to the diluted coffee. When the cof- 
fee is boiling hard, put in the starch gradually, and stir it well. 
After it is all in, let it boil well for ten or fifteen minutes, and 
give it a stir with a spermaceti candle. Put it into an earthen 
pan, and when cool run the dress through it, squeezing it well. 



GLUE STIFFENING.— This is used for dark chintzes or 
calicoes. Take a piece of glue about the size of the palm ot 
your hand ; break it up, and put it into a vessel, with from 
three quarts to a gallon of soft water. Set it on the fire, and 
let it boil till the glue is entirely dissolved. Then take it off, 
pour it into a large pan, and when it is of a lukewarm heat 
(not cooler) it is fit for use. Put the dress into it, and work 
it about till it has thoroughly taken the glue water. Then 
squeeze it well, open it out, and dry it as fast as possible. 
Afterwards, sprinkle, roll it up, and iron it. 



WASHING WHITE CLOTHES.— The white clothes 
are always to be washed first. They will wash the easier if 
put to soak the preceding night in large tubs with a mixture 
of lye and milk-warm water; allowing a pint of lye to three 
Duckets of water. Stockings particularly should always be 
put in soak. Early in the morning, heat a suflSciency of water 
for what is called firsting and seconding the clothes. When 
put into the tubs, dilute with enough of cold water to make it 
just warm enough to bear your hand in — if Too hot it will 
rather set the dirt into the clothes than take it out. For linen, 
muslin, &c., do not make a lather with the soap before you 
put in the clothes, but rub the soap on the article as you pro- 
ceed ; taking the most pains with the dirtiest places. Have 
ready beside you a second tub with warm water, and throw 



WASHING. 2'd 

into it the thing's, one by one, as you wash them out of the 
first. Or when two women are washing together, let one 
take the first water, and the other the second. 

There should be on the fire a large brass or copper kettle 
filled with water for boiling the clothes, and they will look 
whiter and better if you mix with the water in the kettle a 
tea-cup full of strong clear lye. After washing them well 
through the first and second warm waters, put the bed-linen, 
table-linen, and white towels into the kettle, and take them out 
as soon as they come to a hard boil ; or boil them slowly half 
an hour — a longer boiling will injure them. Stir them fre- 
quently with the long round hickory stick kept for the pur- 
pose. The shirts, chemises, night-gowns, handkerchiefs and 
other muslins must not be boiled, but scalded by putting them 
into a clean tub and pouring hot water upon them ; for instance, 
from a larger k«ttle with a spout. No coloured clothes should 
ever be boiled or scalded, as it will destroy the colour; neither 
should white things with coloured borders. 

In boiling clothes, see that there is all the time plenty of 
water in the kettle. If the water gets too low, the clothes 
will scorch or burn. 

When llie things have boiled properly, take them out, 
put them into a tub of cold water, and wash them through it 
without soap — and then throw them into another tub of cold 
water and rinse them well. Lastly, rinse them in a tub of 
cold water tinged with a little blue by squeezing into it the 
indigo bag. The things that have been scalded must also be 
put through three cold waters, the last one slightly blued. 

[n taking them out of every water the clothes should be 
wrung hard. After rinsing in the blue water, hang them on 
the lines to dry in the sun, securing them with the clothes pegs. 

Let them all be brought in at the close of the afternoon, if 



24 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

not before ; as after sunset they will dry no moro. A nil not 
dry, spread them out on the wooden clothes-horses, -jr hang 
them on lines in a garret, back kitchen, or in any convenient 
room, if you have not a laundry. 



WASHING WITH SODA— This method can only be 
pursued with white clothes, (that is, linen and cotton :) it is 
injurious to woollen, and to coloured articles of every de- 
scription. If done with great care, it answers very well for 
bed-linen, table-linen, &c., making them white and clean 
without the labour of rubbing, except in a few places that may 
be particularly soiled. The things to be washed must all 
be laid in soak the night before, in cold soft water. Early in 
the morning, put into the wash-kettle, a mixture in the pro- 
portion of six gallons of soft water, a pound of hard soap cut 
into small pieces, (or a pint and a half of soft soap,) and two 
ourYces of sub-carbonate of soda, which can be obtained at the 
druggist's for a trifle. Hang the kettle over the fire, and make 
it boil. In the mean time, lift the clothes out of the soaking 
tubs with the clothes-stick, and rub a little soap on those parts 
that are unusually dirty. When the mixture in the kettle is 
at boiling heat, put them in, and boil them ?ta^ an hour ,• (not 
more.) Then take them out with the clothes-stick and drain 
them, by laying them across an old clothes-basket turned 
bottom upwards in a large tub. See that they are thoroughly 
drained ; then rinse and wring them through a tub of warm 
water ; and, lastly, through a tub of cold water tinged with 
blue from the indigo bag. W^ring them well, and hang them 
out to dry. 

Care must be taken not to have more than the proper pro- 
portion of soda, (two ounces to five gallons of water,) and that 
it is the precise article required — sub-carbonate of soda. In 



WASHING. 25 

sending for it to the druggjst's, it is well always to write its 
exact name en a slip of paper. Also, the clothes must not 
boil too long, and they must be thoroughly drained and rinsed. 
Some washerwomen and servants are in the habit of putting 
in more than the allotted quantity of soda, thinking to increase 
the whiteness of the clothes in a shorter time : but too much 
soda has the effect of making them what is called tender, and 
causing them very soon to slit and drop to pieces. This prac- 
tice (together with the long boiling) has excited much preju- 
dice against the iise of soda in washing ; and it is an abuse 
that it is difficult to guard against, when the washing is not 
done under your own immediate inspection. Nevertheless, if 
you are careful not to put in more than the due proportion, the 
soda will be found to lighten the labour of the washers. 

Such, however, is the care and exactness required in wash- 
ing with soda, and so injurious its effects when used impro- 
perly, that we think it should only be intrusted to persons 
who are themselves particularly interested in the preservation 
of the clothes. If you have not perfect confidence in your 
washerwomen ox, servants, it is safest to have your white 
clothes made clean in the usual manner, by washing through 
two warm lathers, and boiling them afterwards but a very short 
time. 



TO WHITEN CLOTHES— After they are well washed, 
spread them in the sun on the grass for two or three days : 
bringing them in after the sun declines, lest they should be 
mildewed by the evening damp. 

Small muslins should always be laid on the grass to whiten 
after washing, except in winter: and then they should bo 
pinned to towels, and hung on a line exposed to the sun. 

3 



26 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

TO BLEACH A FADED DRESS.— If you find that a 
coloured muslin or chintz with a white ground has faded very 
much in washing, you may discharge the colour entirely, and 
wear it as a white dress, provided it has not been sewed with 
coloured silk. For this purpose, having first well washed it in 
hot suds, boil it till the colour seems to be gone ; then wash it out 
of the boil, rinse it, and dry it in the sun. Then, if not quite 
white, lay it on the grass where the sun is very hot, and bleach 
it for several days. If still not quite white, repeat the boiling. 



SPRINKLING AND FOLDING.— When your clothes 
are quite dry, and you have brought them to the house in the 
baskets, spread them one at a time on a large clean table or iron- 
ing-hoard, and sprinkle them well by dipping your hand in a 
pan of clean cold water. Then pull and stretch them, and fold 
or roll them tightly. Put the small muslins all together, and 
roll round them a large clean towel. 

In folding shirts, turn inwards the collars, bosoms, and 
wristbands ; rolling up the shirt tightly,, with the back 
outside. 

Dresses must be folded with the bodies and sleeves inside. 
The collars of loose gowns should be turned inwards ; also the 
ruffles or trimming of pantalets. 



IRONING. — ^If you have not a laundry-room separate from 
the kitchen, it is best on ironing days to arrange the dinner 
so as to have nothing to roast before the fire ; as unless the fire- 
place is extremely large, ironing and roasting cannot go on 
together, on the same hearth, without inconvenience. 

For ironing, have a clean well-swept hearth, and a large 
clear, broad fire, with plenty of bright hot coals, as they hea 



IRONING. 27 

the irons much better than a blaze. Chunks -of wood will 
blacken and smoke the irons. 

Your ironing table should be large, and used only for that 
purpose, or for sprinkling and folding clothes. At least no 
greasy work should be done on it ; but if that is unavoidable, 
it should be well scoured afterwards. It should have a com- 
modious drawer or drawers for the blanket and the sheet, the 
wipers, holders, iron-stands, bees-wax, &c. It is well to have 
always at hand a piece of bees-wax or the end of a spermaceti 
candle. This if rubbed on the iron the moment it is taken from 
the fire, and wiped off instantly, will add greatly to its smooth- 
ness. If you find that the iron scorches or burns the wiper, it 
will also scorch the clothes : therefore stand it aside on a cool 
part of the hearth, or set it out of doors on the brick pavement, 
and try another iron while it is cooling. The thinner the 
article that is to be ironed, the less heat it will require. 

For every person occupied in ironing, there should be an 
allowance of three irons at least. If one person is ironing 
alone, there should be four irons. It is a loss of time to waif 
idly for want of an iron that may be hot enough or cool enough ; 
which must always be the case if the number in use is too 
scanty. 

There should be a large clothes-horse at hand, on which to 
hang the things as they come from the ironing table, that all 
dampness may be thoroughly dried out of them, before they 
are put away. For laces, muslins, and other very slight things 
that dry completely in the process of ironing, you should have 
a broad basket and lay them lightly in it, as you finish them. 
In summer, sheets and table-cloths may after ironing be hung 
out on the clothes-line in the hot sun ; turning them often. 

Before using an iron for lace or thin muslin, smooth over 
with it one or two kitchen towels, or some other small thick 



'2^ THE HOUSE BOOK. 

article. Be careful in ironing lace, ribbons, or any long nar- 
lOW strips, not to stretch them crooked, but do them slowly, 
straight, and evenly ; and with the point of the iron press out 
every scollop separately. Always iron lace and needle-work 
on the wrong side. In ironing collars, do them first length- 
ways, and then crossways — and take care not to stretch one 
half of the collar larger than the other. Pleated frills never 
look so well as when the pleats are laid down with the fingers ; 
and skill in pleating is only to be acquired by practice. Care 
should be taken to make all the pleats exactly of the same siz3 
and perfectly straight. Crooked, uneven, or slanting pleats look 
very badly. A ruffle with a very narrow hem pleats much 
more easily than one with a broad hem. On a small frill, 
crimping the edge with a straight knife may be substituted for 
pleating. 

In ironing a night-cap, do the crown first, and then the bor- 
der ; lastly, the strings and bands. 

Ribbons and silks should be smoothed with an iron just 
warm enough to press out the creases. A hot iron will change 
the colour. Green ribbons always change in ironing : blues 
and pinks become darker. Silks should be sprinkled, folded, 
and rolled up tightly an hour or more before they are ironed. 
They should always be done on the wrong side where prac- 
ticable. 

Sheets and table-cloths should be ironed double, with a larrre 
iron pressed on them hard and heavily. 

All coloured things must be done with an iron rather coolei 
than for white clothes, as too great heat will injure the colours. 
Iron them always on the wrong side, wherever the manner ii 
which they are made will allow it. 

When about to iron a frock or gown, if you have not ample 
space on the table, set a chair in a convenient place to receive 



IRONING. 29 

(he sleeves or any part that may hang down, so as not to let 
them touch the floor. Begin at the body : next do the sleeves : 
and then the skirt, commencing at the top or upper part. A 
Bkirt-board is an excellent thing. It should be made wide at 
the bottom, narrojving gradually towards the top. It can be 
obtained from the stores where wooden ware is sold ; or a car- 
penter can be directed to make one. Cover it first with blan- 
keting and then with sheeting, both sewed tightly and smoothly 
over it. This board is to slip into the skirt of the dress, which 
may thus be ironed without a crease. Puffings or gatherings 
in the sleeves should be folded or creased in half, along the 
middle, and ironed out like a flounce or ruffle. 

In ironing petticoats, double them from the two sides, and 
not behind and before ; as that will make a fold dow^n the front 
which will stand out awkwardly when on. 

When you iron a shirt, begin at the bosom ; the'n do the 
collar, then the sleeves, and lastly the back. A small board, 
on a similar plan to that recommended for the skirts of dresses, 
will be found very useful to slip under the bosoms of shirts 
when ironing them. 

Whenever you begin a thing, iron it as fast as you can, (pro- 
jriding always that you do it carefully,) and avoid quitting the 
table while the article you ane doing is unfinished ; for if you 
leave it, there is danger of its becoming so dry that it will be 
impossible afterwards to iron it smoothly. 

You may heat a few irons in the oven of a close stove; on 
a footman or iron shelf hooked on in front of a coal-grate ; 6i 
by setting them on the bars of a charcoal furnace. 



FLUTING WITH A PATENT ITALIAN IRON — 

This looks very well for any frilling or ruffling that is not of 
worked muslin or lace, and it keeps in place much longer than 



3* 



30 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

pleating, resisting even damp weather. It cannot, howevei 
be done well if the frill is more than half a finger deep. A 
patent iron costs but a trifle, and will be found very useful for 
fluting the ruffles of gingham, chintz, or painted muslin 
dresses and pelerines. These irons are fixed to a stand, and 
have smooth tubes diminishing towards one end which is close, 
and open al the other to admit the heater. There are always 
twoAeaters ; they have long handles and somewhat resemble 
a poker. While, you are using one, the other is heated by put- 
ting the thick end* into the fire till it becomes nearly red-hot... 
It is then slipped into the hollow tube, over which you stretch 
the frill, a little at a time, holding it tightly with both hands 
oetween the thumb and finger, and as you go along pinching 
it down at the sides close against the iron, taking care to keep 
it quite straight. The gathered part of the frill must go upon 
the point of the iron. 

When ruffles are to be fluted, they must first be starched and 
dried, and then sprinkled very damp. 

Take care to have one of the heaters always in the fire, so 
that it may be hot by the time the other has become too cool 
for use. If too hot, the tube will scorch the frill, and burn 
your fingers. 

TO IRON VELVET. — Having ripped the velvet apart, 
damp each piece separately, and holding it tightly in both 
hands, stretch it round a warm stove-pipe, the wrong-side of 
the velvet against the iron. This will remove the creases, 
and give the surface of the material a fresh and new appear- 
ance. Velvet cannot be ironed on a table, as when spread out 
on a hard substance the iron will not go smoothly over the 
pile or shag, 

A.nother way, is to heat a smoothing iron, and then to covei 



WASHING. 31 

it with a wet cloth and hold it under the velvet — passing it to 
and fro beneath. For this process, the velvet must be stretched 
over a vacant space between two tables, and well secured to 
cacn, oy weights or something that will keep it fast. The va 
pour arising from the heated iron and the wet cloth, will raise 
the pile of the velvet, while, at the same time, another person 
brushes it up with a whisk. 

The stove-pipe way is the best, but where there is no stove 
the other mode will do. 



TO IRON SILK. — Silk cannot be ironed smoothly so as 
to press out all the creases, without first sprinkling it with 
water and rolling it up tightly in a towel — letting it rest for an 
hour or two. If the iron is the least too hot it will injure 
the colour, and it should first be tried on an old piece of the 
same silk. 

Bright coloured silks or ribbons, such as pinks, blues, yel- 
lows, greens, &c., always change colour on the application of 
an iron. Blacks, browns, olives, grays, &c. generally look 
very well after ironing. 

Silks should always be ironed on the wrong side. 



TO SHRINK NEW FLANNEL— New flannel should 
always be shrunk or washed before it is made up, that it may 
be cut out more accurately, and that the grease which is used 
in manufacturing it may be extracted. First, cut off the list 
along the selvage edges of the whole piece. Then put it into 
warm (but not boiling) water, without soap. Begin at one end 
of the piece, and rub it with both hands till you come to the 
other end. This is to get out the grease, and the bjue with 
wiiich new white flannel is always tinged. Then do the same 



33 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

through another water. Rinse it through a clean lukewanii 
water; wring it lengthways, and stretch it well. In hanging 
it out on a line do not suspend it in festoons, but spread it along 
the line straight and lengthways. If dried in festoons, the 
edges will be in great scollops, making it very difficult to 
cut out. It must be dried in the sun. "When dry, let it be 
stretched even, clapped with the hands, and rolled up tight and 
smoothly, till wanted. 



ANOTHER WAY.— If the flannel is intended for petticoats, 
cut it at once into the requisite number of breadths, as it can 
then be shrunk with much more convenience than when in one 
long piece. For other flannel articles of dress, it is well, before 
shrinking, to divide it into as many straight pieces as the thing 
to be made will allow. 

Lay the flannel all night in a tub of cold soft water. In the 
morning, pour off the whole of the water, and drain but do not 
wring "the flannel. Make a light suds of water quite warm, 
(but not hot,) and of white soap or M^hitish Castile. Wash 
the flannel thoroughly through this suds, and wring it out 
as" dry as possible. Then having shaken it, stretched it, and 
folded it smoothly down on a clean table to make it straight 
and even, hang it out immediately. W^hen about half dry, go 
to it, stretch, shake, and turn it. Take it in while it is still 
damp, fold it smooth,* cover it with a clean towel, and after it 
has lain half an hour, iron it with a rather cool iron. 

We consider this the best way of shrinking new flannel. 



TO WASH FLANNEL.— Flannel should always be 
washed with white soap: otherwise, it will neither look well 
\0T feel soft. The water must be warm but not boiling, as it 
shrinks flannel to scald it. Wash it in clean water, and 



WASHING. 33 

entirely by itself. Rub tbe soap to a strong latber in tbe water, 
before the flannel is put in ; for if the soap is rubbed on the 
Sannel itself, it will become hard and stiff. Wash it in this 
manner through two warm waters, with a strong lather in each. 
Rinse it in another warm water, with just sufficient soap in it 
to give the water a sjight whitish appearance. To this rinsing 
water you must add a little blue from the indigo bag. Cold 
rinsing water is found to harden the flannel. When you have 
rinsed it thoroughly, wring it hard, shake it well, and spread 
it out on che clothes-line. While drying, shake, stretch, and 
turn it several times. It should dry slowly. 

Flannel always washed precisely in this manner, will look 
white and feel soft as long as it lasts, retaining a new appear- 
ance and scarcely shrinking at all. But if once badly washed 
with scalding water, rubbed with brown soap, and rinsed in 
cold water, it will never again look well. 

If you are willing to take the trouble, flannel washed ac- 
cording to the above receipt, will look beautifully if put into a 
dry clean sheet or towel while it is wrung, and afterwards 
(while drying) held between two persons and shook all the 
time. This may be worth while for very fine new flannel, or 
such as is worn by infants. It is often practised in the south, 
where servants are numerous. 



WOOLLEN STOCKINGS.— These are to be done as fast 
as possible, and washed precisely in the same manner as flannel. 
It is best to dry them on the boards made for the purpose in 
tlie shape of legs and feet, over which the stockings are to be 
stretched to keep them from, shrinking. The boards are to be 
hung up by a string to the clothes line. If you have no boards, 
stretch and pull the stockings when half dry ; and in hanging 
them out, suspend them by the toes pinned to the line. 



34 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

BLACK WORSTED STOCKINGS. — These shouU^ 
always be washed before they are worn. Lay them all night 
to soak in cold water. Wash them next day by themselves, 
through two waters, warm, but not hot, the soap being previ- 
ously rubbed into the water so as to form a lather before the 
stockings are put in ; and mixing with the first water a table- 
spoonful of gall. Then rinse them, first in lukewarm water, 
and then in several different cold waters, till the dye ceases to 
come out, '\nd the last water is colourless. Stretch them, and 
hang them >ut immediately in the air, to dry as fast as possible. 
Then iron them on the wrong side. 

Any dark-coloured worsted stockings may be washed in this 
manner. When you hang them out, it is well always to stretch 
them on drying boards. 



WOOLLEN YARN.— After the yarn is spun, whether 
ivhite, gray, or coloured, it should be well washed to get out 
ill the grease that may remain in the wool. It must be done 
,n soft water, made warm but not hot; allowing to each bucket 
)f water, a large tea-cupful of lye. Use no soap ; but wash 
the yarn through two warm waters with lye in each. Next 
rinse it through several cold waters, till the last comes off quite 
'•Jean ; and then spread it out to dry, as open as possible. 

All woollen yarn should be washed both before and after 
lyeing : the first washing to remove the grease ; the second to 
uevent the colour from rubbinor off. 



TO WASH BLANKETS.— The best time for washing 
blankets is in the summer, when the days are at the longest. 
It is well to commence them early in the morning, that they 
may oe dry by evening, and they should be done in clear 
bright weather Washing blankets is very laborious work for 



WASHING. 35 

women, and in the country they are sometimes done by servant 
men. In this case, the first suds may be put into a clean bar- 
rel, and when the blanket is quite steeped, the man may beat 
it with a large wooden beetle. Or if it is in a tub, he may 
step in and trample the blanket with his feet. This is a rough 
way but a good one. 

Blankets should always be washed one at a time; first in 
a strong suds ; then in weaker suds ; and then a third timo 
through another suds quite weak. Wrmg them sligbtly : pull 
them as- straight and even as you can, and then hang them up 
in the sun to drip. If not quite dry at evening, take them 
down from the line, fold them, put them into a large basket, 
and next day (if the Aveather is clear) hang them out again. 
If the day is damp or cloudy, dry them in the house. Fold 
them smoothly, and put them away in a large chest, sprink- 
ling tobacco between the folds, or laying bits of camphor 
amonsf them. 



TO WASH CLOTH CLOTHES.— In economical fami- 
lies it is very customary to have the cloth coats and pantaloons 
of the gentlemen converted into jackets and trowsers for little 
boys ; previous to which it is proper that they should always 
oe washed. 

Brush them well before washing. It is best to rip out the 
pockets of the pantaloons, and also the linings of the waist- 
bands, lest they should communicate lint to the cloth. Wash 
them through two warm lathers of brown soap (soft soap is 
best) with a half tea-cupful of lye in the first suds. Do not 
wring them ; but pull and stretch them well, and roll them up 
tight, and press out the water against the washing-board, or 
against the side of the tub. Then lay them (rolled up) on a 
clean table, and press and squeeze out the remaininp- suds 



36 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

setting a tub underneath to catch the droppings.' Aftervards, 
rinse them in two light lathers (a little warm) rolling them up 
and pressing out the water, as before, after each rinsing. 
Wringing in the usual way will cause them to be shrivelled 
and streaked. When all the water has been pressed out, stretch 
and pull them well, and hang them up by the waistband on a 
clothes-line. When perfectly dry, sprinkle them, roll them 
very tight in a thick damp towel, and let them lie all night 
Iron them on the wrong side till they are perfectly dry, other 
wise they may still shrivel. 

Pantaloons and waistcoats of light cassimere must be washed 
in suds of white soap without any lye ;- and in rinsing them 
the lathers should be very light, the last one scarcely tinged 
with soap. Iron them on the right side, and place a thin fine 
cloth between them and the iron, which must not be too hot. 



TO WASH A WOOLLEN TABLE-COVER— A bright 
windy day is best for this purpose. Having first taken out all 
the grease-spots and stains, put the table-cover into a tub with 
a clean suds of white soap and clear water, warm, but not hot, 
(in which has been mixed about two table-spoonfuls of ox- 
gall,) and wash and squeeze it well. Then wash it through 
a second lather somewhat weaker, of soap, but without anv 
gall in it. Afterwards rinse it through a light lukewarm suds, 
just tinged with soap. Instead of wringing, (which w^ill shrivel 
it,) press out as much of the water as you can with your hands ; 
then fold it up in a tight long fold, and roll and press it hard 
with both hands on a clean ironing table, having set a tub to 
catch the water that drips from it during the process. Roll it 
always from you, towards the end of the table. When the 
"vater ceases to come from it, shake and stretch it well ; and 



WASHING. 37 

dry U as soon as possible ; but not by the fire. Go to it fre- 
quently while drying, and stretch and shake it. While it is 
Vet damp, take it in, spread it on an ironing sheet, and iron it 
on the wrong side, pressing it hard. 

If there is grease on the table-cover, it is best, the day before 
washing, to cover all the spots with scraped Wilmington clay 
wet to a stiff paste with a little water, repeating the clay till 
the grease comes out. Or you may remove them with very 
clear spirits of turpentine, put on with a sponge. To the stains, 
if there are any, you may apply hartshorn weakened with a 
little water. 



A WOOLLEN SHAWL.— This may be done precisely 
according to the above receipt, taking care to pull and stretch 
the fringe well, while drying. After ironing, the appearance 
of the shawl will be improved by folding it smoothly, and 
pressing it for a few days between a bed and the sacking. 

In buying a plaid or tartan shawl, avoid choosing one that 
has any white in it. Even the smallest portion of white (for 
instance, two or three threads in the figure) will, by immediately 
showing the dust, give the shawl (though almost new) a dirty, 
dingy appearance. 



TO WASH COLOURED DRESSES. — Have ready 
plenty of clean soft water. It spoils coloured dresses to wash 
them in the dirty suds left of white clothes ; though this is a 
very common practice with bad washers. The water must be 
warm, but by no means hot, lest it injure the colours. Rub 
soap enough into the water to make a strong lather before you 
put in the chintz, (adding a table-spoonful of ox-gall,) and then 
wash it well. For the second water, put it into another soap- 
suds, colder and weaker, and wash it through that. Then throw 

4 



38 thehousebook. 

the dress into pure cold water, and rinse out all the s-oap 
Lastly, put it into a second rinsing water, with a very littl« 
blue from the indigo bag- in it, and a tea-spoonful of oil of vitrioi 
or a handful of salt to set the colours. Wring it well. 

Have ready a large earthen pan filled with weak starch tingea 
with a little blue. Painted lawns or muslins will be much 
improved by mixing a little gum arable water with the starch : 
for instance, a table-spoonful. Put the dress into it, and run 
it through the starch. Then squeeze it out, open it well, clap 
it, and hang it immediately out to dry in the shade ; taking the 
sleeves by the cuffs and pinning them up to the skirt, so as to 
spread them wide and cause them to dry the sooner. 

If coloured clothes continue wet too long, no precaution can 
prevent the colours from running into streaks. This will cer- 
tainly happen if they are allowed to lie in the water. They 
must always be done as fast as possible, till the whole process 
1°) completed. If the colours are once injured, nothing can re- 
store them; but by good management they may always be 
preserved, unless in coarse low priced calicoes ; and many of 
them wash perfectly well. 

As soon as the dress is quite dry^ take it in ; but, unless It is 
wanted immediately, do not sprinkle it, lest in lying damp the 
colours should be impaired. It should not be sprinkled over 
night, if not to be ironed till next day. When perfectly dry, 
roll it up in a large clean towel, and put it away by itself till 
two or three hours before you iron it. 

Chintzes, &c., should always be washed in fine weather : 
but if it is intensely cold, it is better to dry them at the fiie 
than to risk the spoiling of the colours from their freezing in 
the open air. But it is still better to defer their Avashing till 
the weather is sufficiently moderate to allow them to be hung 
out of aoors. 



WASHING. 39 

Take care not to use too much oil of vitriol, lest it corrode the 
firess and cause it to drop in holes. If you can procure pyro- 
ligneous acid or vineg-ar of wood, a large spoonful of that may 
be used to set the colours without any risk of injury. 

In layinjr by muslin or chintz dresses till next season, let 
them be washed and dried, but neither starched nor ironed : 
and roll up each dress closely in a linen -Wwel. If put away 
dirty or with any starch in them, they will tear or crack when 
you do them up again. 

Bran water is excellent for washing light calico dresses, 
lion a SuHiciency of wheat bran in a large kettle ; strain off the 
water, and use it for the dress, cooling it to a lukewarm heat 
with a little cold water. It will require no soap, and will pre- 
vent the colours from running. Wash the dress through two 
bran waters. Then rinse it in cold water. 

Another way of setting the colours of a dress, is to grate 
eight raw potatoes and mix them wnth a gallon of cold water. 
Put a portion of the potato mixture into each of the waters 
through which you wash the dress. 

Another way, (for a light coloured dress,) is to tie up in two 
muslin bags a half-pint of rice, and boil it in two quarts of 
water till perfectly soft. Mix the rice water with that which 
you use for the dress. Take no soap, but rub on the rice in 
the bags, using one for the first, and one for the second water. 



MOURNING CHINTZ, OR VERY DARK CALICO.— 

Put into a tub some clear soft water, (warm, but not hot,) and 
m'x with it a table-spoonful of ox-gall to set the colour. 
Then rub in sufficient soap to make a strong lather. Put in 
the dress, and having washed it well, wring it out, and prepare 
a second tub of clean water, (not so warm as the first,) with 
another table-spoonful of ox-gall stirred into it, and a weaker 



40 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

lather ol soap. Wash the dress through this ; rinse it well 
through two cold waters, (patting into the last a handful of 
salt,) and wring it out immediately. No coloured dress must 
on any account be left lying in the water, as it will certainly 
cause the colours to run into streaks. 

Having wrung the dress out of the rinsing water, starch ifc 
immediately, and t\)^n dry it in the shade. By making the 
starch with coffee instead of water, you will prevent the whitish 
look which is often so disfiguring to dark or mourning chintzes, 
after they are washed. You may use for this purpose coffee 
that has been left at breakfast. Strain the coffee, and mix the 
starch with it in the usual manner, pressing out all the lumps 
with the back of the spoon, and making it very smooth. Allow 
about a table-spoonful of raw starch to a pint of liquid coffee. 
Boil it well, and to prevent stickiness, stir it while boiling with 
the end of a spermaceti candle ; or, what is still better, boil 
with it a lump of spermaceti (about the size of a small chesnut) 
broken off from the bottom of a candle. 

When the starch has boiled, put it to cool in a large deep 
sarthen pan, and pass the dress through it ; seeing that every 
part imbibes the starch thoroughly. Then squeeze out the 
dress, open it well, clap it, and hang it to dry in the shade. 
When dry, roll it up tightly ; but do not sprinkle it, unless you 
are going to iron it in two or three hours, as allowing it to 
remain damp too long may cause the colours to spread. 

It is well not to wash a coloured dress except on a fine day, 
when it can be hung out and dried at once. But if it is abso- 
lutely necessary to wash one in extremely cold weather, it is 
belter to dry it by the fire than to hang it out of doors, as freez- 
ing will certainly fade the colours. 

Coloured things should on no consideration he boiled, scalded, 



WASHING. 4i 

or put into hoi water : neither, as we have said, should they bo 
allowed to remain long in any water. 

A tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol, or a table-spoonful of 
very good real cider vinegar, or a handful of salt mixed 
in the last rinsing water, will assist greatly in setting the 
colour. 

Another way (and a very good one) of stiffening a dark 
chintz, is to use glue instead of starch ; allowiwg a piece of 
glue about as large as the palm of your hand, to three quarts 
or a gallon of soft water, according to the degree of stiffness 
you desire. Having boiled the glue in the water, till it is en- 
tirely dissolved, let it become lukewarm, and then pass the 
dress through it, squeezing it well. Then dry it as fast as 
possible; and when dry, roll it up tightly, but do not sprinkle 
it, unless you intend to iron it in two or three hours. 

In ironing a chintz dress, do the skirt on the wrong side, and 
as much of the sleeves as you can conveniently. The body 
and some parts of the sleeves cannot be ironed otherwise than 
on the rigkt side; but, to prevent their looking glazy, spread a 
thin white handkerchief smoothly and evenly between them 
and the iron, changing its place as you proceed. 



A MERINO DRESS OR A MOUSSELINE DE LAINE. 

— ^Take the dress entirely apart, if there are any pleats in it; 
as nothing that is made with pleats can either be washed or 
ironed to look well. Lest any of them should be lost, tack all 
the small pieces together with a needle and thread. Shake and 
brush the dress to remove whatever dust may have lodged 
within the pleats or gathers. Make a strong lather with white 
soap and soft water, (warm, but not hot,) and stir into it a large 
table-spoonful of ox-gall. Wash the merino well through this, 

and then wring it out. Have ready a second and much lighter 

4* 



42 T H E H O U S E C O K. 

suds, made with very little soap, and water not more than 
lukewarm; adding a handful of salt, ar a small tea-spoonlul 
of oil of vitriol. If the colour of the dress is light, or bright, 
or very delicate, the vitriol will be the best. Salt will answer 
well enough for a dark or plain coloured merino. Having 
washed the dress well through the second suds, wring it 
very dry, shake it out, and pull and stretch it straight and 
even. It must not be rinsed. Hang it out immediately to 
dry, pinning all the pieces carefully to the line. Before it is 
quite dry, (when you find it what is called ironing-damp,^ 
take it in, fold it smoothly without sprinkling, and let it rest 
for about a quarter of an hour wrapped in a clean towel. 
Then have your irons ready, and iron it on the wrong side, or 
the side that is to be the wrong one when the dress is put 
t'jgether again. 

Wash a chaly in the same manner; and a bombazine also, 
except that for a black bombazine it is best to put a tea-cupful 
of lye in the first suds rather than to use ox-gall. 

Dresses that have any wool or worsted should not be under- 
taken, unless they can be washed and ironed at once ; as re- 
maining damp will shrink and shrivel them. 

Unless the wadding of a merino cloak or pelisse has been 
basted between two linings, it will be found scarcely possible 
(even with washing) to remove the downy particles of cotton, 
that will adhere to the inside w^hen the merino is taken apart 
to be turned. Therefore, we recommend always a double 
lining; the inner one of something very thin and slight. 



A PAINTED MUSLIN DRESS.— Make a lather of white 
Boap and lukewarm water, and wash the dress carefully through 
It. Then rinse it through two cold waters. You may put mto 



WASHING. 43 

the last a small tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol to set the colours, 
or a table-spoonful of cider vinegar. 

Spread the dress well out, and hang it immediately to dry, 
but not in the sun. 

For the stiffening, pick and wash a pint and a half of rice, 
and boil it an hour in a gallon of clear soft water. Then strain 
the rice-water into a clean bucket or a deep earthen pan. Pass 
the dress well through the rice-water, and then squeeze it as 
dry as you can. Do not clap it, but open and stretch it out in 
every part as well as possible. 

Fix up two lines, at a convenient distance from each other, 
(they may be of stout twine or new tape,) and pin the dress 
across both lines, so that it may hang spread open between 
them. While drying, go to it frequently, pull it both ways, 
and stretch it even all over. 

Having pulled and stretched it thoroughly, sprinkle it 
slightly, and roll it up in a clean towel. Do not let it remain 
longer than an hour without ironinfr. 

If there is any thing about it that is to puff out, double the 
full part along the middle, and iron it as you would a gathered 
ruffle. 



A BOOK MUSLIN DRESS.— A dress of book muslin, 
if always well done up, will not require frequent washing. In 
buying a new one, avoid getting such muslin as has a blueish 
cast. - It is very unbecoming to every complexion ; and never 
looks well till after it has been washed. When a good white, 
it is best to wear it a few times before it is washed. They 
require much care in doing up. 

Make a strong suds with white soap and warm water. Put 
in the dress, and wash it well ; squeezing and pressing rather 
than rubbing it ; as book muslin tears easily, and, without great 



44 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

care, will not last long. Wash it through a second suds, and 
then pass it through two rinsing waters ; adding a very Utile 
blue to the last. Then open out the dress ; and, while we.,, 
run it through a thin starch, diluted with water either warm o; 
cold. Stretch it, and hang it in the sun to dry. Afterwards, 
sprinkle it and roll it up in a clean fine towel ; letting it lie for 
half an hour or more. Then open it out, stretch it even, and 
clap it in your hands till clear all over. Have irons ready, and 
iron it before it is too dry, on the wrong side, whenever prac- 
ticable. Take care that the irons are not too hot, as it will 
scorch easily. When done, do not fold the dress, but hang it 
up in a commode or wardrobe. 

In ironing, be very careful to get the hem even. Many per- 
sons, previous to having ihem washed, rip out the hems of their 
thin muslin dresses, afterwards running them over again. This 
is a good plan, if you are willing to take the trouble ; which, 
however, is not much. 



GOLD OR SILVER MUSLIN.— These muslins should 
not be worn till they are much soiled, as they must be washed 
very delicately, first taking them apart. Make a strong lathei 
of filtered or very clear soft water, and fine white soap in which 
there must be no perfume. The water should be warm, but not 
hot. Then with your hands turn the muslin about in it till it 
is thoroughly saturated with the suds. Squeeze it well, but do 
not wring it. Repeat this through two other lathers, each a 
^fittle weaker and cooler. Then rinse it lightly through two 
waters ; squeeze it, shake it out, open it well, and hang it in 
the sun to dry as fast as possible. W^hen you iron it, have a 
linen cloth over the blanket ; take a rather cool iron, and go 
over it carefully on the wrong side ; yet unless the sprigs of 
gold are very small, it is best not to iron it at all, but to stretch 



WASHING 4b 

it well in every part. You may brighten each sprig by rubbing 
every one separately with a bit of white or crimson velvet of 
the best quality. Unless the velvet is very good, and dyed 
in grain, the colour may come off and leave a stain around each 
sprig. The trouble of burnishing the gold in this manner, will 
be repaid by its increased brightness. 

A dress of gold or silver muslin should be kept carefully 
folded and pinned up in a linen cloth. 

As in the stores you can buy only what is called a dress 
pattern, consisting of a limited number of yards, it is well 
when you purchase one of these muslins, to send at once a 
sample to India, with an order for a sufficient quantity for 
a new body and sleeves when the make of the first is no longer 
fashionable. 

Another way of brightening the flowers of gold or silver 
muslin, is to rub every sprig with a bit of fine white flannel 
slightly wet with warm spirits of wine, replacing the bit of 
flannel very frequently by a clean one. 



TO CLEAN GOLD LACE.— Burn some roche alum; 
then powder it very fine and sift it. Dip a clean soft brush 
into the powdered alum, and rub the gold lace with it. After- 
wards wipe it with a clean soft flannel. Gold embroidery may 
be brightened in the same manner. 



TO WASH BLACK SILK.— To a sufficient quantity of 
ox-gall add enough of boiling water to make it warm. Spread 
out the silk on a large kitchen table, and dipping a clean sponge 
in the gall, go over the whole of the article with it, on both 
sides. Then squeeze it well out, and repeat the application of 
the sponge, having added more boiling water to the gall so as 
to heat it again. Rinse the silk in clear cold water, and repeat 



46 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

the rinsing (clianging the water each time) till the last wato. 
appears perfectly clean. Then stretch it, and dry it quickly ir 
the air, and afterwards pin it out on a table. 

To give it the consistence of new silk, dissolve in boiling 
■water a little glue or gum arabic ; mix it with sufficient cold 
water, and sponge the dress all over with it. This must be 
done on the wrong side. Then dry it, sprinkle it slightly, and 
roll it up tightly in a towel : let it lie a few hours, and then iron 
It, taking care that the iron is not too hot, as silk scorches very 
easily. 

You may perfume the last application of ox-gall- by mixing 
with it a little musk. 

Unless the silk is of very good quality, it will not be worth 
while to take the trouble of washing it. 

Previous to washing a black silk dress, rip the skirt from 
the body, and the sleeves from the arm holes. 

A bombazine dress may be washed in the same manner, but 
after washing, it must not be stiffened. 



BISHOP'S LAWN.— Put it into a lather of hot soap-suds, 
(white Castile soap is best,) and wash it through that and a 
second water of the same. Then boil it a quarter of an hour. 
When you take it out of the boil, rinse it in warm water, and 
then throw it into cold water and rinse it. Afterwards put it 
into another rinsing water, very slightly tinged with blue. Have 
ready some thin starch, in which mix a little gum arabic water, 
in the proportion of a table-spoonful of gum water to a pint of 
starch. The gum arabic used for this purpose should be of the 
whitest and finest kind, and pulverized before putting it into the 
water, which should be warm. It must be prepared the day 
before ; or, rather, it is well to keep a bottle of gum arabic wate* 
always in the house, as it is useful for many purposes. 



WASHING. 47 

Put the starch into a large earthen pan, and pass the lawn 
rlirough it, squeezing it well. Then stretch, clap, dry, and iron 
It. It will have the appearance of new lawn. 

Fine lawn or cambric handkerchiefs should be washed in this 
manner, making the starch very weak. 



FINE BROWN LINEN.— Brown French linen of very 
fine quality, is frequently used for ladies' travelling dresses in 
the summer, and for gentlemen's round jackets. To prevent it 
from fading, it should be washed with hay, as should also 
brown holland aprons and petticoats. Two large handfuls of 
hay will suffice for one dress. Wash the dress first in cold 
water, without any soap ; having first boiled the hay in suffi- 
cient water to cover it well. When the hay has boiled hard 
for half an hour, strain off the water, and dilute it with cold 
water, till it becomes nearly the colour of new brown linen. 
Then wash the dress in it, still without soap, having saved 
some of the hay-water for rinsing. Rinse it through two hay- 
waters, and in the last put a table-spoonful of pyroligneous 
acid, or vinegar of wood, (to be obtained at the druggist's,) or 
a small tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol. Hang the dress out im- 
mediately to dry in the shade; and when dry, do' not sprinkle 
it, unless you intend to iron it the same day. 

Provided that the ground is tea-coloured, olive, drab, or paie 
brown, any chintz or painted muslin may be washed to great 
advantage with hay. If there is white in the figure, the hay- 
water should be more diluted, and the rinsing-water should 
have none of the hay. 

Hay water is much employed by the French laundresses. 

The fine brown grass-clotb used for travelling dresses and 
bonnets, should be washed with hay ; and squeezed rather than 
rubbed. * 



48 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

WASHING A GINGHAM BONNET.— A drawn or 
sherred gingham bonnet may be washed without opening the 
casinofs or takino- out the cane or whalebone ; but it is best to 
rip off the frilling, bows, and strings, and wash and iron them 
in the usual way. The bonnet, divested of its trimming, 
(eihould then be placed on a wooden bonnet-block, (if you have 
one,) otherwise stretch the crown on the bottom of an inverted 
stone jar. Then make a lather of white soap and lukewarm 
water, (adding a tea-spoonful of gall to set the colours,) and 
with a clean brush (a new tooth-brush will do) go carefully 
over the whole of the bonnet, washing well in between the 
cases. Repeat this with a second clean suds, but without gall, 
and then rinse it off with clear cold water put on with a clean 
sponge or a soft white rag. The bonnet must then be immedi- 
ately set out in the air, and dried upon the block or jar ; going 
to it occasionally and stretching and pulling the brim to make 
it dry, straight, and even. Then having washed, starched, and 
ironed the trimmings, put them again on the bonnet. 

A white cambric muslin bonnet may be washed in the same 
manner. 



NANKEEN. — ^To prevent nankeen from fading, the colour 
should be set when it is quite new, in the piece, before it is 
made up. To do this, put some good oak or hickory ashes-, 
into a clean barrel or bucket, and pour on sufficient soft water 
to make a moderately strong lye. Then draw or strain it off, 
very clear, into a tub. Lay the piece of nankeen in the tub of 
lye, and let it remain all night. Next day wring it out, (with- 
out rinsing,) and dry it in the shade. When dry, sprinkle it, 
roll it up, and iron it. We havtf seen nankeen thus soaked in 
lye while quite new, retaining its full colour till the article 
made of it was worn out. *• 



WASHING. 49 

In washing nankeen, after it has been worn, take care not to 
have the water too hot. Use soft soap for it, in preference to 
hard. Wash it through two lathers, putting a tea-cupful of 
lye into the first. Rinse it through two waters with a sligh; 
tinge of soap in each. Iron it on the wrong side. 



FURNITURE CHINTZ The articles of furniture chintz 

that you intend washing, must be taken apart, and the ^ust 
well shaken out of each piece. 

Boil some rice (in the proportion of two pounds of rice to 
two gallons of water) till quite soft. Strain it from the kettle 
into a tub, and let it stand till about the warmth generally used 
for coloured cottons. Then put in the chintz and wash it till 
all the dirt appears to be out, using instead of soap some of 
the boiled rice tied up in a muslin bag. 

In the mean time, have boiling the same quantity of rice and 
water as before; but when it is done, strain it, and having tied 
the rice in a bag, put it in a tub of warm clear water. Wash 
the chintz in this till you are sure of its being perfectly clean, 
still using the rice as soap. Afterwards, rinse it in the water 
in which you boiled the last rice, (and which should be saved 
in a tub for the purpose,) mixing with the water a few spoon- 
fuls of cider vinegar. Stretch it even, and hang it on the 
lines to dry. After it is dry, stretcli and fold it, spread it on 
an ironing-board, but instead of an iron, rub it all over on the 
right side with a smooth stone. 

It is still better to have it mangled in a machine, or 
calendered. The greater the gloss, the longer it will keep clean. 

Chintz bed-spreads should be washed in this manner. 



SMALL MUSLINS. — Soap the muslins the night *)efore, 
and put them to soak in cold water. Next morning wash them 

5 



50 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

through two waters tolerably warm, using soap to each, and 
squeezing and pressing rather than rubbing them. After- 
wards squeeze them immediately through a suds, as hot as you 
can bear your hand in, and let them lie about five minutes in the 
hot lather. Then rinse them ; first through a moderately warm 
water, and then through a lukewarm water into which you 
have infused a very little blue from the indigo bag. The tinge 
must be very slight, as too much blue will give them a very 
ungenteel look. Squeeze them well out of the last water, and 
spread them to dry. 

Have ready the starch, which should be made in the propor- 
tion of two table-spoonfuls of dry starch for about three capes 
and half a dozen single collars. The starch should be of the 
very best quality. Mix it in a bowl with sufficient cold water 
to cover the starch, and with the back of the spoon press out 
all the lumps so as to make the starch perfectly smooth. Pour 
the mixture into a pint or a pint and a half of boiling water, 
in a clean skillet or tin saucepan. Boil it well for half an 
hour: and when half-boiled, stir it a moment with the end of a 
new spermaceti candle. Then strain it into a broad pan, and 
press into it the blue bag, just sufficiently to give it a slight tinge 

When the muslins are dry, throw them into the starch, 
squeezQ them out, dry them a little, and clap them between the 
palms of your hands (a small portion at a time) till they are 
quite clear. It is best to clap them near an open window in 
summer, and in winter by the fire. Then pull them straight 
and even. 

When they are not quite dry, but just damp enough to iron, 
have the irons ready, and lay a fiile flannel (a petticoat for in 
stance) on the ironing blanket. Spread the cape or collar upon 
it, covering it smoothly with a piece of old thin muslin, so xbat 
the iron may not exactly touch the article. 



WASHING. 61 

When you take the iron from the fire, rub it with a piece of 
bees-wax, and then wipe it quickly ; and before you use it for 
the muslin, smooth over a coarse towel with it. 

Then iron the cape or collar carefully on the wrong side, 
pressing out the scallops one by one. 

If the article has no ornamental needle-work, but merely a 
plain hem or ruffle, iron it on the right side. 

Clear-starching should always be done on a bright dry day. 
If the weather is damp and gloomy,^ the things will be too 
limber and of a bad colour. 

The thicker the muslin, the less clapping will be necessary. 

Collars or capes of bobbinet may be done up in this manner, 
also gauze or crepe-lisse. 

No articles of muslin or lace should (when out of use) be 
put away with starch in them. For instance, when laid aside 
during the term of mourning, they should be soaked and 
washed clean ; then well rinsed in plain cold water, stretched 
even, dried, and rolled up, but not ironed. Afterwards, put 
them into an old pillow-case or something of the sort, or wrap 
them closely in a fine towel, keeping them in a safe place till 
they are wanted again for use. They will then require wash- 
ing in warm water, and whitening on the grass. After they 
are well bleached, proceed to do them up as usual. 

If put away with starch in them, they will crack and split 
to pieces, when you go to prepare them again for wearing. 



BOBBINET OR COTTON LACE.>-Having ripped off 
the lace, roll it round a black bottle covered with white linen 
or muslin, sewed on smoothly. Then fill the bottle with 
water ; cork it tightly, and suspend it with a string in a kettle 
of cold soap-suds, made with Castile soap. Boil it mode- 
rately tin the lace looks perfectly white, which it will in about 



52 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

half an hour. Then drain off the suds, and set the bottle m 
the sun, till the lace dries on it. 

"When dry, have ready in a basin some very weak gum 
arable water, and pass the lace through it, squeezing it well. 
Then stretch it out evenly, and clap it in your hands to 
clear it while drying. Lay it on an ironing-sheet, and iron it 
on the wrong side with rather a cool iron, taking care to press 
out all the scollops. When you put it away, wind it round a 
ribbon block, which should be a little wider than the lace. 

Bobbinet quilling may be done up in the same manner. 
Care should be taken to have it no stiffer than when new. 

Instead of quilling bobbinet lace, it will save much trouble 
to sew it on permanently, and flute it over a patent Italian iron. 
It should be gathered full, allowing thrice the quantity that 
would be sufficient to go round the collar if sewed on plain: 

THREAD LACE. — Having ripped the lace from the article 
to which it was attached, and carefully picked out the loose 
bits of thread, roll the lace very smoothly and securely round 
a clean black bottle, which has been covered with new white 
linen sewed on tightly. Tack each end of the lace with a 
needle and thread, to keep it smooth ; and in wrapping it round 
the bottle, take care not to crumple or fold in any of the 
scollops or pearlings. Pour into a saucer a veri/ little of ths 
best sweet oil, and, dipping in your finger, touch it lightly on 
the lace while proceeding to wind it on the bottle. Too much 
oil will make it greasy. 

Have ready in a wash-kettle, a strong cold lather made of 
very clear water and white Castile soap. Having filled the 
bottle with cold water to keep it from bursting, and corked it 
well, stand it upright in the suds, and tie a string round the 
neck, and secure it to the ears or handle of the kettle, to pre- 



WASHING. 53 

vent its knocking about and breaking while over the fire. Let 
it boil in the suds for an hour or more, or till the lace is clean 
and white all through. Then take it out, drain off the suds, 
and stand the bottle in the sun, for the lace to dry on it. When 
it is quite dry, remove the lace from the bottle, and roll it round 
a wide ribbon-block, if you have one ; otherwise lay it in long 
folds, place it within a sheet of smooth white paper, and press 
it in a large book for a day or two. 

By this simple process, in which there is neither rinsing, 
starching, nor ironing, the lace will acquire the same consist- 
ence, transparency, and tint that it had when new, and the 
scollops at the edge will come out perfectly even. We can 
safely recommend this as the best possible method of doing up 
thread lace, and as the only one which gives it a truly new 
appearance. 

It is well not to put the oil on the lace till the soap-suds is 
ready in the kettle, so that the bottle may go in immediately ; 
as, if allowed to stand, much of the oil will run down and 
drip off. 

If you wish the lace to look of a dead white, and not to have 
the peculiar appearance of that which has never been washed 
It all, omit the sweet oil ; but wind it on a bottle, boil it in 
fioap-suds, and dry it in the sun without rinsing, just as directed 
above. When dry, take it off the bottle and roll it on a ribbon- 
block till you want to use it. 



ANOTHER WAY TO W^ASH LACE.— Get a black 
bottle : a square one is best; for instance, the kind that is used 
for sarsaparilla. Sew all over it a piece of thick linen or cotton 
rag. Then wind the lace smoothly round the bottle, securing 
the ends, and taking care that no part of the edge is crumpled 

or turned inward Next, sew another piece of rag all over the 

5* 



64 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

outside, so as entirely to cover the lace. Make a strong lather 
of white soap, and cold clear soft water, (filtered water is best,) 
and put it into a large stone jar or crock, standing the bottle 
upright in the suds. Place the crock on a hot stove or over a 
charcoal furnace, and let it boil an hour or more. Then takb 
out the bottle, throw away the suds, wash the jar, and fill it 
with clear cold water in which you have mixed a table spoon- 
ful of starch. Replace the bottle, and let it again come to a 
boil. When you take out the bottle, remove the outside cover- 
ing, and let the lace dry on the under linen, placing it in the 
sun. When dry, take it off the bottle, and smooth it over with 
a cool iron, carefully pressing out each scollop of the edge. 

Some persons take the trouble to insert a little minikin pin 
in every loop or pearling along the extreme edge of the lace, 
fastening it to dry on a pillow. This is to keep the loops open, 
so that the edge may look as much as possible like new lace 
that has never been washed. 

It is well to keep two bottles ready covered with linen, for 
the purpose of washing lace ; a large bottle for broad lace, and 
a small one for narrow. 



WHITE SILK LACE OR BLOND Having sewed on 

a black bottle a covering of clean linen or thick muslin, wind 
the blond round it, (securing the ends with a needle and thread,) 
not leaving the edge outward, but covering it as you proceed. 
Then set the bottle upright in a strong cold lather of white 
soap and very clear soft water, and set it in the sun, having 
gently with your hand rubbed the suds up and down on the 
lace. Keep it in the sun every day for a week, changing it 
daily into a fresh lather, and always rubbing it slightly, when 
you renew the suds. At the end of the week, take the blond 
off the bottle, and (without rinsing) pin it backward and for- 



WASHING. 55 

ward on a large pillow covered with a clean case put on tightly. 
Every scollop of the blond must have a separate pin ; or more, 
if the scollops are not very small. The plain edge must be 
pinned down also, so as to make it straight and even. The 
pins should be of the smallest size. Let the blond dry on the 
pillow. When quite dry, take it off, but do not starch, iron, 
or press it. Lay it in long loose folds, and put it away in a 
pasteboard box. 

Threaii lace may be washed in the same manner. 

In France they have for the purpose of pinning out and dry- 
ing lace, large pillows or cushions set in wooden frames, and 
standinof on feet. Some American ladies send their blond to 
Paris purposely to be washed, and when returned it looks as 
if quite ne\y. 



A WHITE LACE VEIL.— Make a strong lather with 
white soap and very clear or filtered water. Put the veil into 
it, and let it simmer slowly for a quarter of an hour. Take it out, 
and squeeze.it well, but be sure not to rub it. Rinse it in two 
cold waters, with a drop or two of liquid blue in the- last. 

Have ready some very clear and weak gum arable water, or 
some thin starch, or some rice water. Pass the veil through it, 
and clear it by clapping. Then stretch it out^ even, and pin it 
to dry on a linen cloth, making the edge as straight as possible, 
and opening out all the scollops, fastening each with pins. 
When dry, lay a piece of thin muslin smoothly over it_, and 
iron it on the wrong side. 

Every time you put it away, fold it differently, as lace veils 
have been known to crack in squares from being always /oldf^d 
the same way. 

White lace sleeves may be washed in the above mannei 



56 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

A BLACK LACE VEIL.— Mix bullock's gall with suffi. 
cient hot vyater to make it as warm as you can bear your hafid 
in. Then pass the veil through it. It must be squeezed, 
and not rubbed. It will be well to perfume the gall with a 
little musk. Next rinse the veil through two cold waters, 
tinging the last with indigo. Then dry it. Have ready 
in a pan some stiffening made by pouring boiling water on a 
very small piece of glue. Put the veil into it, squeeze it out, 
stretch it, and clap it. Afterwards pin it out to dry on a linen 
cloth, making it very straight and even, and taking care to open 
and pin the edge very nicely. 

When dry, iron it on the wrong side, having laid a linen cloth 
over the ironing blanket. 

Any article of black lace may be washed in this manner. 



TO WASH RIBBONS, SILK HANDKERCHIEFS, &c. 

— None bui ribbons of excellent quality, of one entire colour, 
and of a plain unfigured surface, will bear washing. A good 
satin or mantua ribbon may be made to look very well by 
washing it carefully, first in cold water, to which add a few 
drops of spirits of wine : then make a lather of white soap 
^nd lukewarm water, and wash the ribbon through that; after- 
wards rinse it in cold water, pull it even, and dry it gradually. 
When dry, stretch out the ribbon on an ironing-table, (securing 
it to the cloth by pins,) and sponge it evenly all over with a 
very weak solution of isinglass, that has been boiled in clear 
water and strained ; or if you have no isinglass, rice-water will 
be a tolerable substitute for restoring the stiffness and gloss. 
To iron the ribbon, lay it within a sheet of clean smooth letter 
paper, (the paper being both under and over it,) and press it 
with a heated iron moved quickly. 

If the colour is lilac, add a little dissolved pearlasn to the 



WASHING. 57 

rmsing-water. If green, a little vinegar in which you havo 
steeped a few cents. If pink, or blue, a few drops of oil of 
vitriol. If yellow, a little tincture of saffron. Other colours 
may be set by stirring- a tea-spoonful of ox-gall into the first 
water. If white, a salt-spoonful of cream of tartar mixed with 
the soap-suds. 

It is seldom worth while to take the trouble of washing rib- 
bon, unless you have a tolerable quantity to do. Unfigured 
silk handkerchiefs and scarfs may be washed and ironed in the 
above manner. The proportion of spirits of wine, is about a 
table-spoonful to a gallon of water. 



WHITE SILK STOCKINGS.— Soap them, and let them 
soak all night. In the morning, wash them through a strono- 
lather of white soap and warm soft water, and then boil them 
ten minutes in another lather of the same. If not quite clean, 
wash them through another w^arm suds. Then rinse them 
through two cold waters. If you wish them a blueish white, 
mix a drop or' two of liquid blue with the last water, and 
let them lie in it a few minutes. Then squeeze and dry them. 
If you wish them a pale, flesh colour, mix a very little rose- 
pink with the last water, which should be very slightly tinged 
with soap. When they are dry, stretch and pin them on the 
ironing-sheet, but do not iron them, as it is best to smooth them 
by hard rubbing with the end of a clean piece of flannel formed 
into a tight roll. Or you may rub them with a smooth 
stone. 

Wash and smooth white silk gloves in the same manner. 

If the stockings or gloves have open or lace work about them 
and are q^nsequently of delicate texture, do not rub them in 
washing, but merely squeeze and press them with vour 
hands 



58 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

BLACK SILK STOCKINGS.— Cut some white soap into 
thin bits, and boil it in soft water till thoroughly dissolved. 
Then mix a little of it in cold water, adding a tea-spoonful of 
gall. Having turned the stockings on the wrong side, 
and rubbed a little of the boiled soap on the dirtiest places, 
wash them well through the lukewarm suds. Repeat the 
washing, in fresh suds and water, till they are quite clean. 
Then rinse them through two cold waters, adding to the last 
a little blue from the indigo bag. Then squeetze them well, 
stretch them even, and hang them out immediately. While 
still damp, turn them right side^out, stretch and pin them on 
an ironing blanket, and with the end of a bit of rolled up flan- 
nel, or a smooth stone, rub them hard and quick one way, till 
they are quite dry, and look smooth and glossy. This is bet- 
ter than to iron them, which always gives silk stockings an 
old appearance. 

Black silk gloves may be washed as above ; if they have 
open work, do them with great care. 



TO TINGE SILK STOCKINGS A PALE PINK.— The 

stockings of course must be originally white or flesh-coloured. 
Previous to dyeing, wash them in the usual manner, in two 
lathers of warm water and white soap, squeezing and pressing 
rather than rubbing them. Rinse them through two cold 
waters, and then stretch and dry them. Before you put them 
into the dye, steep them in cold water and squeeze the water 
out. They must go into the dye wet. 

To make the dye, gather a large tea-cupful of the fresh 
flowers or blossoms of the bergamot plant. Put them into a 
china bowl, press them down hard, and pour on sufficient boil- 
ing watei to cover them. Then cover the bowl closely with a 
piaie. and let the bergamot stand an hour or more to infuse. 



WASHING. 59 

Wh^n the liquid is well coloured, strain it, dilute it with cold 
water to the desired shade, and add five or six drops of oil of 
vitriol to set the colour. Then take the stockings, one at a 
time, immerse them thoroughly and evenly in the dye, and 
squeeze them through it. Afterwards, when all the liquid is 
squeezed out, open and stretch them well, and hang them up 
in the shade. While stjU a little damp, pin them, well-stretched, 
upon the ironing-cloth, (they must be right side out,) and rub 
them till quite dry with the end of a clean flannel formed into 
a tight roll, or with a smooth stone. This will give them an 
appearance of newness, which they will not have if ironed 
in the usual way. 

Instead of oil of vitriol, you may set the colour with a tea- 
spoonful of cider vinegar. 



WHITE FRENCH THREAD GLOVES AND STOCK- 
INGS.— These articles are so delicate as to require great care 
■'in washing, and they must on no account be rubbed. Make a 
lather of white soap and cold water, and put it into a saucepan. 
Soap the gloves or stockings well, put them in, and set the 
saucepan over the fire. When they have come to a hard boil, 
take them off; and when cool enough for your hand, squeeze 
them in the water. Having prepared a fresh cold lather, boil 
them again in that. Then take the pan off the fire, and as soon 
as the water is cool enough for you to bear your hand in it, 
squeeze them well again. Then rinse them through two cold 
waters, stretch, dry, and iron them on the wrong side. 

It is well to soap tiiem a little over night, and lay them to 
soak in cold water till next day. 



UNBLEACHED STOCKINGS AND GLOVES.— If 

ihe brownish colour of unbleached cotton or thread stockinors 



60 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

is allowed to fade, they will look like very dirty white, which 
is by no means desirable. After washing and rinsing them in 
the usual manner, squeeze and open them out. Strain into a 
basin some cold coffee, (any that has been left at breakfast will 
do,) and "when the stockings have been squeezed and opened 
out from the rinsing water, put them wet into the coffee, and 
work them about in it, till they have, thoroughly taken the 
colour. Then squeeze them out, and dry them in the shade. 
Iron them on the wrong side. They will look as if new. 

If you have not much coffee, you need only immerse the 
feet of the stockings in it, and the leg as far up as the calf. 
With strong coffee you may make them a beautiful light brown 
colour. The coffee must be very clear. 



WASH-LEATHER GLOVES.— Gloves of what is called 
wash-leather, should first have the grease-spots taken out, by 
rubbing on them either magnesia, cream of tartar, or Wilming- 
ton clay scraped to powder. Then make a lather of white 
soap and lukewarm water; (hot water will shrink them;) 
wash and squeeze them through this : and then squeeze them 
through a second suds. Rinse them first in lukewarm water, 
and then in cold, and stretch them to dry before the fire or in 
the sun. 



AJVOTHER WAY. — Having removed the grease-spots, 
you may wash the gloves (one at a time on your hands) by 
rubbing them with a clean sponge wet with lukewarm soap- 
suds. Then wash off the suds with another sponge dipped in 
clear water. Afterwards pull and stretch them well, and hang 
them to dry before the fire or in the hot sun. When almost 
dry, put them again on your hands, and keep them there till 
quite dry, v^'hich will prevent them from shrinking. 



WASHING. 61 

COLOURED KID OR HOSKIN GLOVES. —Have 
ready on a table a clean towel folded three or four times, a 
saucer of new milk, and another saucer with a piece of brown 
soap. Take one glove at a time, and spread it smoothly on the 
folded towel. Then dip in the milk a piece of clean flannel, 
rub it on the soap till you get off a tolerable quantity, and 
then with the wet flannel commence rubbing the glove. Begin 
at the wrist, and rub lengthways towards the end*of the fingers, 
holding the glove firmly in your left hand. Continue this 
process till the glove is well cleaned all over with the milk and 
soap. When done, spread them out, and pin them on a line 
to dry gradually. -When nearly dry, pull them out evenly, 
the cross-way of the leather. When quite dry, stretch them 
on your hands. 

White kid gloves may be washed in this manner, provided 
they have never been cleaned with India rubber. 

In mending the seam of a kid glove that has been ripped, 
always sew it backwards ; otherwise, it will stretch out of 
shape. 



WHITE KID GLOVES.— -Stretch the gloves on a clean 
board, and rub all the soiled or grease-spots with cream of 
tartar or magnesia. Let them rest an hour. Then have ready 
a mixture of alum and fuller's earth, (both powdered,) and rub 
it all over the gloves w^ith a brush, (a clean tooth-brush or 
something similar,) and let them rest for an hour or two. 
TWien sweep it all off, and go over them with a flannel dipped 
in a mixture of bran and finely powdered whiting. Let them 
rest another hour; then brush off the powder, and you will 
find them cleap. 

On no consideration clean gloves with turpentine, as you 
will be unable to wear them on account of the smell. Turpen- 

6 



62 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

tine should never be applied to any article that cannot be 
thoroughly .washed before it is used. 

Leather of the natural colour (a saddle, for instance) may be 
cleaned by means of oxalic acid dissolved in vi^ater, and 
rubbed on with a sponge, washing it off immediately. 



GENTLEMEN'S WHITE LEATHER GLOVES —A 

gentleman may clean his white leather gloves to look very 
well by putting them one at a time on his hands, after he has 
done shaving, and going over them thoroughly with his shave- 
brush and lather; then wiping them off with a soft clean 
handkerchief or sponge, and drying them on his hands by the 
fire; or hanging them before the fire or in the hot sun; and, 
while still damp, putting them on his hands till quite dry, to 
prevent their shrinking. 



TO SHRINK WIDE BOBBINET.— It is best to shrink 
new bobbinet before it is cut out; otherwise it will be neces- 
sary to make the cap or collar too large at first, lest it should 
become too small by shrinking after being washed. Dip the 
piece of bobbinet into a pan of cold water, and take it out 
immediately. Squeeze it hard with your hands till the mois- 
ture ceases to drip from it ; then open and stretch it, till you 
get it as straight and even as possible. Afterwards, fold it 
up, and lay it between the folds of a clean fine towel. By the 
time you have heated an iron, the bobbinet will be in a stale to 
smooth over. Try the iron first on some other thin thing : ftr 
if the least too hot, it will discolour the bobbinet. 

If sprigged, iron it on the wrong side. 

% 

TO SHRINK COTTON CORD.— Cord intended for a 
chintz or muslin dress, should be shrunk before it is used. 



WASHING. 63 

Otherwise, it will, after washing, contract in its coverings and 
})ucker the seams, bands, &c., by shrinking more in proportion 
than the materials of which the dress is made. To prevent 
this, open or unwind the hank of new cord, and having laid it 
loosely in a bowl, pour on a sufficiency of boiling water. Let 
it set in the scald till the water becomes cold ; then take out 
the cord, squeeze it hard, and spread it to dry. When quite 
dry, wind it on a card, and it will be ready for use. 



A SWAN'S-DOWN CAPE OR TIPPET.— Make a 

strong lather of the best white soap and lukewarm water ; hot 
water will shrink the skin of the swan's-down. Work and 
squeeze the swan's-down through the suds, but do not rub it. 
Then do the same through a second lukewarm suds, and per- 
sist till you see that the article looks clean and white. After- 
wards rinse it through two waters, (the first lukewarm, the 
second cold,) squeezing it carefully. Then shake it out and 
dry it in the sun or by the fire, holding it in your hands and 
shaking it all the time, to prevent its looking matted or in 
tufts. You may wash a swan's-down bonnet in this manner ; 
first removing the lining. 

Marabout or down feathers may be washed in a similar way. 

When but little soiled, you may clean swan's-down in the 
following manner, without washing it. Powder some plaster 
of Paris. as finely as possible, sift it through a fine sieve, and 
then heat it over the fire. When the powder is quite warm, 
but not burning hot, lay the swan's-down in a large clean 
metal pan, (heated also,) and sift the powder over it through a 
sieve, turning the swan's-down about, and seeing that the 
powder is dispersed well through it. Repeat the process till 
the swan's-down looks very white. Then take it out and shake 
cflf the loose powder 



64 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

CLEANING MARABOUT OR DOWN FEATHERS 

■^Make a strong lather of fine white soap, and soft lukewarm 
water. If the water is not perfectly clear, it must be filtered. 
Take the feathers separately, and immerse them in the suds 
till they are quite full of it. Then wash them, one at a time, 
by drawing them through your hand ; changing the water 
■when necessary, till the last suds remains quite clean, and the 
feathers look perfectly white and nice. Have ready some 
moderately stiff, and exceedingly smooth starch, made with 
cold water, and a very little blue from the indigo bag squeezed 
into it. This starch must not be boiled. Pass the feathers 
separately through it, and then drain them well. Next, take 
them, one at a time, in your hands, and shake them out in the 
sun and air ; continuing to shake till they are quite dry. A 
bright windy day is best for this purpose. 

If dried by the fire, they will not be so good a white. 

Ostrich feathers may be cleaned in the same manner. To 
curl them, hold them near the fire while damp, and if you 
have not the proper instrument, (a long sort of bodkin made 
for the purpose,) you can substitute a pair, of dull scissors. 
Take each fibre of the feather separately between the points 
of the scissors, and give it a twitch or turn inwards, holding 
it in that position a moment, to give it the proper set. 

Black feathers, when straightened by damp weather, may 
be curled in the above manner. 

White feathers should never be worn when the weather is 
damp. 

WASHING BED FEATHERS.— New bed feathers, in 
consequence of retaining the animal oil, are damp, heavy, and 
have a peculiar smell. To remedy this inconvenience, tliey 
flhcuid, before they are used, have a thorough cleansing in lime- 



WASHING. 65 

water; but it' this has not been effectually done, they must be 
taken out of the ticks, and subjected to the proper process, as 
it is not only disagreeable, but unwholesome to sleep on them 
in their oily state. 

Prepare some lime-water, in the proportion of half a pound 
of quick-lime to a gallon of soft water. Put it into a tub or 
tubs, and having stirred it well, let it stand all night; then 
pour off, for use, all the lime-water that is perfectly clear : the 
lime having settled to the bottom. Put the feathers into a 
large deep tub, and pour on as much lime-water as will cover 
them about three or four inches, after they have been well 
immersed, and stirred about in it with a stick. When they 
have stood two days, and been frequently stirred, pour off the 
lime-water, and replace it with a new supply. Let them stand 
two days longer, still stirring them at times. Afterwards, take 
them out, (squeezing the. dirty water from them,) and wash 
them well in a tub of clean water without lime. Then ■squeeze - 
them out, a handful at a time, and spread them to drain on 
sieves. The best way of drying them, is by suspending them, 
exposed to the sun and air, in nets whose meshes are about 
the size of those of cabbage-nets. Shake them frequently in 
the nets, and collect all the feathers that fall through the 
meshes. They must always be brought in doors when the 
weather is damp, and may take about three weeks to dry 
thoroughly. If you have no nets, spread them on the floor of 
an empty garret or loft ; stirring and turning them frequently, 
and picking out the hard quills and stripping the down from 
them. 

"When they are all clean and dry, put them into large coarse 
bags in the form of a tick ; lay them on a floor, and beat them 
on all sides with long sticks like broom" handles, till the 
feathers are perfectly light and lively. 



66 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

Old feathers may be greatly improved by emptying the ticK, 
(which should also be washed,) and washing them throiign 
several lathers of strong soap-suds. Rinse them well in cold 
water, drain them on sieves, and spread them to dry as above 
on the floor of an empty garret. Their drying may be accele- 
rated by sewing them in a coarse sheet, and putting them into 
the oven on a baking-day, after the bread is drawn, and letting 
them remain there till next morning. This should be several 
times repeated. Then put them into bags and beat them. 

Fresh feathers that have been newly plycked from the geese, 
should be laid loosely in large baskets, placed in the garret, 
and stirred very frequently. 

The smell of new feathers in a bed or pillows, may be some- 
what remedied, by ripping the seams in a few places, and 
putting in lumps of camphor; afterwards sewing them up 
again immediately. 

In the middle states the usual time for picking geese is in 
August, as at that season they moult or shed their small fea- 
thers, which, if allowed to drop about of themselves, will be 
lost or wasted. The person that performs this business should 
put on a coarse tow apron, and holding the goose on her lap, 
with one band should carefully pick out all the small loose 
feathers with the other, and put them into a large basket or tub 
placed beside her for the purpose. Geese-picking is generally 
done in a porch or out-house; but a dry, warm, calm day 
should be chosen for it, that the feathers may not be blown 
about by the wind. Let it not be done if the weather is damp or 
cool, as the geese may catch cold from the loss of their feathers. 



RENEWING MATTRASSES.— When mattrasses have 
been long in use;' the hair or wool with which they are stuffed 
becomes clodded or knotted in lumps, making it impossible to 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS, ETC. 67 

Sleep on them with any degree of comfort. They should then 
be carried into a spare garret or out-house, and taken to pieces. 
The stuffing should be carefully picked apart by hand till it 
becomes thoroughly loose and open, throwing it, as it is done, 
into large baskets. Afterwards a new tick should be made, 
and filled with the stuffing ; as the old one will scarcely be 
worth using again for the same purpose ; but it may be washed 
and converted into floor-cloths, &c. 

When the new tick is filled, stitch it through with pack- 
thread or fine twine, and a long mattrass needle, (which 
may be procured at a hardware store,) securing every stitch 
with a little bit of buckskin run on the needle. 

Hair mattrasses are much better than those of wool, which 
are not sufficiently cool for summer. 

Mattrasses will generally require taking apart and picking 
about once in three years, if they are in continual use. 

^traw mattrasses should be occasionally emptied and filled 
with fresh straw. When straw becomes old, it has a musty 
smell, which makes the mattrass unwholesome to sleep on ; 
also, it will produce fleas. 



TO CLEAN A STRAW OR LEGHORN BoNlNfiT.— 

Having separated the crown from the brim and the cape or 
neck-piece, and removed the lining and wire, the next thing 
is to take out whatever stains may be found in the bonnet, the 
crown of which should be put on a wooden block. For grease, 
rub on with your finger some powdered Wilmington clay, or 
a little magnesia ; and in an hour or two brush it off, and renew 
the application, if necessary. For other stains use either 
cream of tartar or salt of sorrel, put on a little wet. If salt 
of sorrel, it must be washed off again almost immediately, lest 
it injure the straw by remaining on it. Afterwards (keeping 



68 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

the crown still on the bonnet-block) go over the whole surface 
of the bonnet with a brush dipped in a weak solution of pearl- 
ash in lukewarm water, (a tea-spoonful to a quart.) Then 
scour it off at once, with a strong lather of brown soap and 
cold water, put on with a clean brush. When all the bonnet 
is well cleaned, rinse it in cold water, and hang it in the sun 
to dry. Bonnet cleaning should never be undertaken in damp 
weather. When the bonnet is perfectly dry, you may proceed 
to whiten it. Fill a chafing dish or portable furnace with burn- 
ing charcoal ; carry it into a small close room or into an empty 
press or closet, and by a line suspended across, hang the bon- 
net over the charcoal, at a safe distance, so that it will be in no 
danger of scorching. Then strew over the coals an ounce ojr^ 
two of powdered brimstone, and immediately go out and shut 
the door, seeing that no air whatever can get into the room. 
After the bonnet has hung in the vapour six or seven hours, 
throw open the door, (having first left open an outside door or 
window, so as to admit immediately the fresh air,) and go into 
the room as soon as you find you can do so without incon- 
venience from the fumes of the charcoal and sulphur. Then 
bring out the bonnet, and hang it in the open air till the smell 
of the brimstone has entirely left it. If the day is windy, so 
much the better ; but the bonnet must on no account be hung 
out if the weather is damp, and it must be brought in before 
sunset. If it is not sulRciently white, repeat next day the 
process of bleaching it with charcoal and brimstone. 

The next thing is to stifien the bonnet. To make the stiffen 
ing, boil in two quarts of soft water, a quarter of a pound of 
vellum shavings, (the vellum of buflfalo's hide is best,) filling 
it up occasionally, if it seems to be boiling too dry. It mr5t 
boil or simmer slowly for six or seven hours. Then, when you 
take it from the fire, let it stand a while to settle ; after whicli. 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS, ETC. 69 

pour it off into a basin, and it will become a thick jelly. To 
the sediment eft in the pot, you may add a second two quarts 
of water; and after a second boiling-, it will form another jelly 
or sizing, strong enough for similar purposes. When you are 
going to use it for a bonnet, melt up a pint of this jelly, and 
mix with it a small half-tea-spoonful of oxalic acid, (not more 
or it will injure the straw,) and then with a clean sponge or 
brush go all over the bonnet, inside and out, with the sizing. 
Dry the bonnet; and when quite dry, go over it again with a 
second wash of the stiffening. Dry it again, and then spread 
over it a wet piece of jaconet muslin ; or damp the bonnet all 
over with a sponge and lukewarm water, and then cover it with 
ja fine white handkerchief, while you press it hard and evenly 
with a warm box-iron, exerting all your strength. The crown 
must be pressed while on the bonnet-block ; the brim may be 
done on an ironing-table. Afterwards expose the bonnet to the 
air, till it becomes perfectly dry ; and next day it wall be ready 
for putting together, lining, and trimming; first mending what- 
ever defective places may be found in it. 

The front of a bonnet will keep its shape much better if the 
wire is thick and stout. In lining a bonnet, the best way for 
a novice in the art, is to pin a large sheet of thin soft paper on 
the outside of the brim, and (having fitted it smoothly) cut it 
of the proper shape and size, allowing a little for turning in at 
the edge. Then pin the paper into the inside of the brim, and 
if it fits perfectly smooth, cut out the silk lining by it. A piece 
of oiled silk sewed all round the inside of the crown, at the 
joining place, and extending down a little upon the the brim, 
will prevent the stain from perspiration, that so freauently 
disfigures that part of a bonnet. 

Without a regular cleaning in the preceding manner, a dis- 
coloured straw bonnet may be improved in appearance, if 



70 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

pre-ious to putting on a fresh trimming, you stretch the bonnet 
on a block, (or something- that will answer the purpose,) and 
go all over it with a sponge dipped in lukewarm water, in 
which has been dissolved pearl-ash, in the proportion of a 
small tea-spoonful of pearl-ash to a pint of water ; afterwards 
rinsing it off, wiping it hard with a flannel, and drying it well. 
Next, go over it with a clean sponge dipped in strong rice-water, 
which will be the better for having dissolved in it a half- tea- 
spoonful of sugar of lead. Then dry the bonnet, and having 
damped it all over with a wet sponge, cover it with thin mus- 
lin, and press it hard with a heavy and moderately warm iron. 



TO TAKE CARE OF BEAVER HATS— A hat should 
be brushed every day with a hat-brush ; and twice a day in 
dusty weather. When a hat gets wet, wipe it as dry as you 
can with a clean handkerchief, and then brush it with a soft 
brush, before you put it to dry. When nearly dry, go over it 
with a harder brush. If it still looks rough, damp it with a 
sponge dipped in vinegar or stale beer, and brush it with a 
hard brush till dry. 

A good beaver hat should always, when not in constant use, 
be kept in a hat-box, with a hat-stick extended inside of the 
crown 



TO CLEAN GOLD ORNAMENTS.— For chains, ear- 
rings, and other articles of gold jewelry, make a lather of fine 
white soap and warm water, adding to it from ten to twenty 
drops of hartshorn. Wash the articles in this with a clean 
sponge, and (if very much tarnished) boil them in it for five 
or six minutes. Have ready a deep plate of magnesia powder, 
*hat has been heated before the fire. Lnmediately on taking 
he articles out of the suds, lay them in the warm magnesia, 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS. 71 

and let them remain in it till they are quite dry. Then rub them 
brig-ht with a fine soft flannel ; using a very small soft brush foi 
the parts that are chased or embossed. If there are. stones in the 
jewels they must not be washed or boiled, but simply rubbed 
with the magnesia and flannel. 



CLEANING PEARLS.— If allowed to get wet, pearls 
soon become dull and discoloured. Pearl rings (and all rings 
that have stones in them) should always be taken off the fin- 
gers when the hands are washed, and not resumed till they are 
perfectly dry. The beauty of jewelry is also injured if worn 
in warm weather, when the skin perspires. Pearls should be 
frequently brightened by rubbing them carefully with a bit of 
white pin-paper made into a little roll, and using the point or 
end of the roll. 



TO CLEAN AND MEND TORTOISE-SHELL.— When 

tortoise-shell looks dull, its lustre may be revived and a fine 
polish given to it, by first washing it clean in soap-suds, and 
then, after wiping it perfectly dry, rubbing it with sweet oil, 
mixed with rotten-stone finely powdered and sifted through 
thin muslin. Let it rest an hour ; then wipe off the rotten- 
stone ; cover the tortoise-shell with magnesia powder, and 
after a while, finish with a silk handkerchief. It will look as 
well as new, if, instead of the magnesia, you rub on a very 
little of the reddish brown powder that the silversmiths call 
rouge. 

To repair a tortoise-shell comb from which a tooth has been 
broken, have ready a new tooth rather longer than the old 
one, (and having wet it with water,) soften the upper or 
broadest end of the new tooth by holding it in a pair of hot 
pincers. The part of the comb from which the old tooth was 



73 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

broken must be wet and softened in the same way. Then lay li»e 
vacant part of the comb and the broad end of the new tooth to- 
gether wnile soft, (one over the other,) and pinch or squeeze 
thom with the pincers to unite them smoothly. When cold, the 
new tooth will be found firmly welded in its place. 

This is a very nice operation, but can be performed in such 
a manner that the join is quite imperceptible. If in a city, it 
is best to have it done by a comb-maker. As it shows no ap- 
pearance of ever having been broken, it is of course very su- 
perior to the old-fashioned method of mending a comb with a 
silver rivet. There must be no grease about it. 



TO CLEAN HEAD AND CLOTHES BRUSHES.— 
Put a table-spoonful of pearl-ash into a pint of boiling water. 
Having fastened a bit of sponge to the end of a stick, dip it 
into the solution, and wash the brush with it; carefully going 
in among the bristles. Next pour over it some clean hot water, 
and let it lie a little while. Then drain it, wipe it with a cloth, 
and dry it before the fire. 



TO CLEAN COMBS.— Tie one end of a strong silk 
thread to the handle of a wash-stand or bureau drawer. Sit 
down before it with a towel spread on your lap, and holding 
the other end of the silk tightly in your left hand, take the 
comb in your right and pass it hard and carefully along the 
thread, which must be made to go in between all the teeth 
separately, so as to remove or scrape down all the impLi'sties 
Then ruo tne comb with a comb-brush, or a soft cloth; rinse 
't in warm soap-suds, and wipe it dry. 



CLEANING BOOTS AND SHOES.— First with your 
hard brush remove all the dirt. When they are perfectly 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS, ETC. 73 

clean, stir up the blacking with a stick, put a little on your 
blacking-brush, and spread it lightly and evenly over the 
boots or shoes ; then, with your polishing brush go quickly 
and lightly over them, and in a few minutes they will have 
a fine polish. When done, if you find any brown spots, (which 
will happen if the blacking has not been put on evenly,) go 
ightly oves the dull places a second time with your blacking- 
irush. 

You must have three brushes for cleaning boots and shoes ; 
and your blacking should always baof the best kind. 



TO MAKE FINE BLACKING— For this you must have 
one quart of sour beer or porter, (the latter is best:) eight 
ounces of ivory black : three ounces of molasses : one ounce of 
powdered sugar-candy, or of loaf-sugar : half^an ounce of pow- 
dered gum arable : half an ounce of oil of vitriol ; and one ounce 
of sweet oil. Having warmed the beer, dissolve in it the gum 
arable, mix the molasses with the vitriol and sweet oil, (the 
vitriol is to give the polishing quality, and the oil is to prevent 
the vitriol from injuring the leather,) add by degrees the ivory 
black : rubbing the mixture smoothly together, and seeing that 
no lumps are left in it. Then pour all the ingredients into a 
jar. Stir them hard, and let the mixture stand three days, 
stirring it with a round stick thfee Or four times each day. It 
will then be fit for use. If you find it too thick, (so that it 
will not be sufficiently liquid even when warmed at the fire,) 
add a little more beer. Put it into bottles, and cork it tightly 



BLACKING THAT WILL PRESERVE THE LEA- 
THER. — Mix together four ounces of spermaceti oil and 
twelve ounces of molasses. Add by degrees twelve ounces 
jf ivory black, mixing it in smoothly, and rubbing it well, sv> 



74 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

as to leave no lumps • then dilute it gradually with a quart of 
the best white wine vinegar. If you find it too thick, add 
more vinegar ; stir it hard, and let it stand in the jar three 
days, stirring it frequently with a round stick; then bottle it 
•for use. If still too thick, even when warmed at the fire, 
dilute it by stirring in a little more vinegar. 



FRENCH POLISH FOR BOOTS, SHOES, AND HAR- 
NESS. — Mix together two pints of the best vinegar, and one 
pint of soft water ; stir into it a quarter of a pound of glue 
broken up : half a pound of logwood chips : a quarter of an ounce 
of finely powdered indigo : a quarter of an ounce of the best 
soft soap : and a quarter of an ounce of isinglass. Put the 
mixture over the fire, and after it comes to a boil continue the 
boiling for ten minutes or more. Then strain the liquid, and 
bottle and cork it. When cold it is fit for use. 

Before you apply this polish to boots, shoes, &c., remove 
the dirt with a sponge and water. Then put on the polish 
with a clean sponge. Should you find it too thick, hold it near 
the fire to warm a little, and the heat will liquefy it suf- 
ficiently. 



WASH FOR W^HITE BOOT TOPS.— Mix together one 
ounce of oxalic acid: two dunces of finely powdered and sifted 
l»umice-stone : and two tea-spoonfuls of cream of tartar. Stir 
them into a quart of soft water. Apply it to the light-coloured 
tops of riding-boots, to prevent their turning brownish. Hav- 
ing first brushed off all the dust and dirt from the leather, rub 
on the mixture with a clean hard brush. Then sponge it well 
with cold water, all one way, and put the boots to dry gradu- 
ally in the sun, or at a good distance from the fire. This 
preparation may be used also for leather saddles. 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS, ETC. 75 

BRUSHING AND FOLDING A .COAT.— A gentle- 
man's coat cannot be conveniently freed from dust without a 
coat-horse, on which to hang and extend it. It should be 
whipped hcird with a rattan, taking care not to strike the but- 
tons, lest they be scratched or broken. If the coat is wet or 
muddy, hang it to dry in the sun or by the fire, before you 
attempt to heat or brush it. "When perfectly dry, take the cloth 
between your hand and rub off the mud-spots before you put it 
on the coat-horse. 

After it has been well beaten with the rattan, spread the 
coat at its full length on a table, the back being uppermost. 
Take the collar in your left hand and a clothes-brush in your 
right, and first brush the back of the collar: then between the 
shoulders : then the sleeves and cuffs : then the farthest lappcl 
and skirt ; and then the near one, always brushing according to 
the nap of the cloth, as'tt runs towards the skirts. 

To fold a coa/.— Having spread it, as before, on a table, 
double the left sleeve from the elbow towards the collar: the 
other the same way : then the left lappel over the sleeve as far 
as the back seam, and the other in the same manner. Next 
turn up the left skirt so that the end may touch the collar : do 
the same with the right skirt. Give it a light brushing all 
over : and then turn one-half the coat exactly even over the 
other half. Folded in this manner, the coat may be put into a 
trunk, and will keep smooth during a journey of any length. 



TO FOLD A LADY'S DRESS.— Place the dress upon a 
bed, spreading it out wide and smooth, with the back part 
uppermost, and laying the hem even at the bottom. Take the 
two o^ter sides of the skirt, and fold them over, so as to make 
them rather more than meet: lapping over down the middle of 
the back-breadth. Then place your left hand and arm under 



76 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

the folded skirt, and. with your right hand double it somewhat 
more than a quarter of a yard underneath the dress ; and next fold 
forwards (so as to lie above it) the upper -part of the skirt where 
the gathers join the body ; leaving the back uppermost. Then 
turn back the sleeves, and if they are long, fold them inwards 
from the elbow ; letting them rest on the back of the body, 
the cuffs crossing each other. Finally, take all at once, in your 
left hand, that part of the folded dress where the cuifs, neck, 
and upper fold of the skirt come together and lie on each other; 
and lifting it up carefully, let fall from under it the lower part 
of the skirt that has been turned up underneath. When the 
tail has thus fallen, spread it up over the whole, smoothly and 
evenly, to preserve the body and sleeves from being crushed. 
The dress may then be laid in a drawer or packed in a 
trunk, without any danger of tumbling. It may be made to fit 
into a narrower space by lapping the sides of the skirt still 
more over each other, when they are folded upon, the middle of 
the back-breadth. 

After folding a dress of white satin or white silk, pin or sew 
it up closely in two large sheets of thick brown paper, one 
below, and one above. The turpentine used in the composi- 
tion of this paper will tend to preserve the whiteness of the 
satin. You may place a blue paper between the satin and the 
brown. 

In putting away dresses in a press or commode, hang each 
dress on two hooks or pegs, suspending them (back outwards) 
by two loops of tape sewed to the two shoulder-seams inside. 

When travelling, it is well to carry in your trunk a large 
curtain of check, brown linen, or thick calico, with a drawing 
string run through a case at the top. By means of this, you 
can cover your dresses and screen them from dust when you 
are obliged to hang them up against the wall of your chanibe/ 



CLEANING ARTICLES OF DRESS, ETC. 77 

TO FOLD A LADY'S CLOAK.— In makitig a cloak, it 
is best to have the cape so finished at the neck, that it can 
easily be taken off when preparing to put it away for the sum- 
mer, or to pack it for travelling ; otherwise it will be impossi- 
ble to prevent its getting rumpled. 

Having taken off the cape, spread the cloak (right side out) 
on a bed, and fold it lengthways all down the back-breadtli ; 
first in half, and then laying it over so as to make it four 
double. Next put your left hand and arm under the whole of 
the lower part, and with your right hand turn it up about one- 
third of the length of the cloak. Then double the middle back- 
ward, and the upper part forward, so as to make three equal 
crossway folds, (all of course four double,) leaving the gather- 
ed or neck part uppermost, and the collar out at the top. 
Next turn back the collar, (still doubled lengthways,) and 
let it rest on the upper, or gathered part of the cloak. 

Take the cape (right side out) and fold it lengthways ; 
first in half, and then four double. Next, turn it backward, 
(crossways,) letting the upper or gathered half rest on the 
lower. Then lay tlie cape on the top of the cloak ; and folded 
in this manner the whole will keep perfectly smooth. 

In putting away for the summer a merino or cloth cloak, 
strew between its folds an ounce or two of camphor, broken 
into small bits; and pin it closely up in a large linen cloth. 

A strong loop of galloon or doubled ribbon, large enough to 
go over' a peg or hook, should always be sewed firmly under 
the back of the collar, exactly behind, for the purpose of hang- 
ing up the cloak when in daily use. Two loops will be bet« 
ter than one. They should be far apart ; one inside of each 
shoulder. 



78 



REMOVING STAINS, GREASE, &c. 



TO RExMOVE STAINS OF WINE OR FRUIT FROM 
TABLE LINEN. — A wine stain may sometimes be removed 
by rubbing it (while wet) with common salt. It is said, also, 
that sherry wine poured immediately on a place where port 
wine has been spilled, will prevent its leaving a stain. A cer- 
lain w iy of extracting fruit or wine stains from table-linen is 
to tie up some cream of tartar in the stained part, (so as to form 
a sort of bag,) and then to put the linen into a lather of soap 
and cold water, and boil it a while. Then transfer it wet to a 
lukewarm suds, wash and rinse it well, and dry and iron it. The 
stains will disappear during the process. 

Another way, is to mix, in equal quantities, soft soap, slacked 
lime, and pearl-ash. Rub the stain with this preparation, and 
expose the linen to the sun with the mixture plastered on it. 
If necessary, repeat the application. As soon as the stain has 
disappeared, wash out the linen immediately, as it will be 
injured if the mixture is left in it. 

A small stain will sometimes disappear by wetting the spot 
with cold water, and holding over it, at a safe distance, a lighted 
brimstone match. It may be necessary to repeat it with a 
second and third match. 

You may also remove a small stain, by stretching that part 
of the linen over the top of a mug of hot water, and rubbing 
on with your finger, some oxalic acid or some cream of tartar, 
or the mixture of both that is sold as salt of lemon. Then 
wash it out immediately. 

Some stains will disappear by wetting them with warm 
water, and rubbing on magnesia. 



STAINS, OKE ASE, ETC. 79 

rO REMOVE FRUIT STAINS FROM SILK.— The 

slain of sweetmeats or syrup may generally be removed from 
silk or merino with very little trouble if done immediately. It 
is merely to wipe the spot with the corner of a soft clean linen 
(an old napkin or a handkerchief) dipped in cold water; re- 
peating it till the stain* is erased, and taking care not to rub 
crossways of the stuff, lest you should fray it. The sugar in 
sweetmeats neutralizes the acid, and causes the stain to come 
out more easily than that of raw fruit. We know an instance 
when, by a strange accident, the crown of a Leghorn hat was 
covered with the syrup of preserved plumbs. By wiping it, 
immediately, with a clean wet napkin, not the slightest stain 
was left. 

Fruit stains on silk may sometimes be removed, by wetting 
them with hartshorn diluted with a little water, repeating the 
application several times. When it fails, it is owing to some 
peculiarity in the dye of the silk, but it is always worth a triai. 
It will generally take off the reddish marks left on blue-black 
silks, by wine, tea, or lemonade. If the hartshorn, does not 
succeed, and the silk is black, nothing better can be done than 
to cover these red marks with ink laid on with a large camel's 
hair brush. 



TO RESTORE BLACK SILK SLEEVES.— When the 
sleeves of a black silk dress have been stained by perspiration 
m warm weather, mix in a large cup, equal quantities of strong 
spirits of hartshorn, and soft water. Dip a clean sponge into 
this liquid, and with it go carefully over the sleeves, first 
spreading them out on a table. Then dry them ; and if the 
colour is not restored, repeat the process, making the mixture 
a little stronger of hartshorn. Afterwards iron them. 

This application of hartshorn and water will generally 



50 T H E II O U S E B O K. 

remove the reddish stains by which black silk sleeves are so 
frequently disfigured in summer; and will much improve their 
appearance, even if it does not restore them exactly to the 
original black. 

If you can take the sleeves out of the dress, or indeed rip 
^em all apart, you w-'ill be able to s'ponge them with much 
jonvenience and efficacy. 

This application will frequently remove stains of tea, lemon- 
juice, &c., from coloured silks. 

What is called blue-black silk, is much more liable to stain 
than that which is jet-black. India silks rarely stain at all. 



TO EXTRACT GREASE FROM A SILK OR WORS- 
TED DRESS. — Small grease-spots on a dress that cannot be 
washed, may frequently be removed by tbe immediate applica- 
tion of the corner of a jfine napkin, wetted in cold water, and 
rubbed on the straightway of the texture; changing several 
times to a clean corner dipped in fresh water. This also, if 
done immediately, will frequently take out the stain of sweet- 
meats or any very sweet thing dropped on a dress. A piece 
of pin-paper rolled up and rubbed with the rough end, on the 
wrong side of a fresh grease-spot, will often remove the blem- 
ish from silk. Fine French chalk scraped to powder and 
rubbed on the wrong side of the spot, brushing it off in about 
an hour, and repeating the application, is another remedy for 
accidental grease. But the most efficacious is to scrape down 
some of a Wilmington clay ball, (to be obtained for a trifle at 
the diug-stores,) and to rub the powder on the wrong side 
of the grease-spot. In an hour or two hours, rub off the 
powdei, and repeat the application. W^e have never known 
it fail 



STAINS GREASE, ETC. 81 

TO REMOVE SPOTS OF TAR, PITCH, OR lUR- 
PENTINE. — Carefully scrape off as much of it as you can; 
next, wet the place thoroughly with good salad oil, and let it 
rest till next day. Then (if linen or cotton) wash it out in 
strong warm soap-suds ; if woollen or silk, rub on some ether 
or spirits of wine to take out the grease. 

If the stain is of tar, you may remove it (after it has been 
scraped and wiped) by using cold tallow, instead of sweet oil. 
Take a small lump of good tallow, rub and press it well on 
the tar spot, and leave it sticking there till next day. Then 
proceed as above. 



TO EXTRACT LAMP OIL FROM A DRESS— If 

lamp oil is spilled on a dress that will not be injured by wetting, 
lay it immediately in a small tub of cold water. A portion of 
the oil will shortly be seen to rise to the surface ; then pour off 
the water, replace it with fresh, and still more oil will be seen 
floating on the top. Again pour off the water, and fill the tub 
anew ; repeating the process till no more oil can be discovered 
on the surface. Then take out the dress, wring it well, and 
dry and iron it. No washing is necessary. We know an in- 
stance of a lamp with its whole contents, being overset into 
the lap of a young lady, and by immediately resorting to the 
above-mentioned mode of extracting the oil from her new and 
very handsome dress of pink French gingham, she appeared 
in it next day with its beauty and colour untarnished, and no 
vestige of the accident in the slightest degree apparent. 

If lamp oil or any other grease is spilled on a white dress, 
it can of course be eradicated by washing and boiling in the 
usual manner. 

To take lamp oil from a silk dress, or any one that shonild 
not be wetted, nothing is better than to turn the gown on the 



82 T H E II U S E B K. 

wrong side, and cover the place with powdered Wilmington 
clay ; rub it on with your finger the straight way of the threads.,, 
to prevent the silk from fraying. At the end of an hour, brush 
off the clay, and put on some fresh. By repeating the appli 
cation a few times, the oil will disappear. 



TO TAKE LAMP OIL OUT OF A SOFA, &c.— Cover 
the spot, however large, with powdered or crumbled Wilming- 
ton clay. Then pin down over the place a sheet of soft thin 
paper, (blotting-paper, for instance,) and let it rest several hours. 
Then brush it off, and renew the clay and the paper. By re- 
peating the application the oil will be entirely extracted. We 
have known this remedy to take out all traces of oil from a crim- 
son damask sofa, over which a lamp had leaked so as to leave 
a spot as large as a dessert plate. 

The same process will take out oil or other grease from a 
carpet. If Wilmington clay cannot readily be obtained, (it is 
well to keep a supply of it always in the house,) mix together 
in equal quantities, ox-gall and powdered fuller's earth or pot- 
ter's clay, (for instance, a table-spoonful of each ;) dilute the 
mixture with water sufficient to wash the grease-spot repeatedly, 
rubbing it on hard. While it is drying, pin a thin paper closely 
over it, to prevent the dust from sticking to the place. When 
the grease is all out, wash the spot with cold water. 

If the accident has happened to a table-cover, hearth-rug, or 
any thing that can be hung out, it is best to dry it in the 
*open air. 

TO EXTRACT LAMP OIL FROM A FLOOR Take 

immediately some fuller's earth, (which you can procure for a 
trifle at any pottery, also at the grocery and drug stores,) and 
scrape it to powder with a knife. Pour some warm water on 



STAINS, "tiR.E^SE, ETC. • 83 

the boards that are greased with the oil, and then spread on it 
the fuller's earth ; mixing it into a paste, and plastering it on 
with a small flat stick. If you spread it on with a knife, the 
floor will be stained with iron mould. Let it remain thus two 
days. Then scrape off the paste, and renew the application 
with more warm water and fresh potter's clay. Two days 
after, repeat Jt again, and persist till the oil is entirely re- 
moved. Then let the place be scrubbed with soap and water 
in the usual manner. 



TO TAKE OUT STOVE-PIPE STAINS, OR SOOT 
FROM A FLOOR. — Wash the place with sulphuric acid 
very much diluted with water. If you find that the stain does 
not come out, add a very little more of the sulphuric acid, to 
make the mixture somewhat stronger. 



TO TAKE LAMP OIL OUT OF A CARPET.— Loosen 

the carpet, and turn up the part that is greased. Rub the floor 
underneath with finely powdered pipe-clay, or with scraped 
"Wilmington clay. After it has lain two or three hours, brush 
it off, and repeat the clay till all the grease is extracted. In 
the mean time, (having laid a piece of thiftk paper between the 
greasy part of the carpet and that which is clean,) .cover the 
oil-spot with the pulverized clay, and pin a piece of blotting- 
paper over it. Let it rest two or three hours, and then repeat 
the application. By persevering, you will succeed in extract- 
ing the oil both from the floor and carpet. The same remedy 
will remove any other grease. 



TO EXTRACT GREASE-SPOTS FROM BOOKS OR 
PAPERS. — First you must gently warm the greased or spot- 
ted part of the book or paper, and then press on it bits of blot- 



84 , THEIIOUSEBOOK. 

ting-paper, one after anotlier, so as to absorb as much of the 
grease as possible. If the grease is fresh, the blotting-paper 
will be very serviceable. Have ready some fine clear essen- 
tial oil of turpentine, heated almost to a boiling state ; warm 
the greased leaf a little, and then with a soft clean brush 
dipped in the heated turpentine, wet both sides of the spotted 
part. By repeating this application the grease will be ex- 
tracted. Lastly, with another brush dipped in rectified spirits 
of wine go over the place, and the grease will no longer 
appear, neither will the paper be discoloured. 

It were well to finish by pressing the paper all over with a 
moderately heated iron, laying a sheet of tissue paper between. 



TO REMOVE GREASE FROM WALL-PAPER.— 

Scrape some Wilmington clay to powder ; wet it with a little 
cold water mixed with ox-gall, and plaster it on the grease- 
spots. Pin a blotting-paper carefully over it. Let it rest two 
or three hours, then brush it off and renew the application : 
repeat it till the grease disappears. 

If you have no Wilmington clay, you may substitute 
magnesia, or scraped grease-ball. 

TO TAKE OUT PAINT FROM A DRESS.— After a 

paint-spot has dried, it is extremely difficult to remove it. 
When fresh, (having wiped off as much as you can,) it may be 
taken out by repeated applications of spirits of turpentine or of 
spirits of wine, rubbed on with a soft rag or a flannel. Ether 
also will efface it, if applied immediately. If the paint has 
been allowed to harden, nothing will take it off but spirits oi 
turpentme, rubbed on with perseverance. 



STAINS, GREASE, ETC. , S5 

TO TAKE FRESH PAINT OUT OF A COAT— Take 
immediately a bit of cloth and rub the wrong side of it on tho 
paint-spot. If no other cloth is convenient, part of the inside 
of the coat-skirt will do. This simple application will gene- 
rally remove the paint when quite fresh. Otherwise rub on 
with your finger some ether, or dip a bit of sponge or flannel 
in the ether, and wipe the paint-spot with it as hard as 
possible. 

TO TAKE WAX OUT OF CLOTH.— Hold a red-hot 
iron (a poker, for instance) within an inch or two of the cloth 
till the wax has disappeared. Then rub the cloth with sqrae 
soft clean rag. 

Wax droppings may be removed in the same manner from 
Tel vet. 



TO TAKE OUT SPERMACETI.— First scrape off the 
'drops of spermaceti nicely with a knife. Then lay a thin soft 
paper over them, and press on a warm iron which must not be 
hot enough to injure the colour. Afterwards rub the place 
with spirits of wine. 

If the spermaceti has fallen on an article of which you cap 
conveniently get at the wrong side, first scrape off as much of 
*he grease as stands on the surface, then rub the under-side of 
ihe spot with Wilmington clay-ball scraped to powder, and let 
it rest for an hour or two : then repeat the application. 



TO REMOVE WATER STAINS FROM BLACK 
CRAPE. — When a drop of water falls on a black crape veil 
or collar, it leaves a conspicuous white mark. To obliterate 
this, spread the crape on a table, (laying on it a large book o» 

a paper-weight to keep it steady,) and place underneath the 

8 



86 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

?tain a piece of old black silk. With a large camel's haii 
brush dipped in common ink, go over the stain ; and then wipe 
off the ink with a little bit of old soft silk. It will dry im- 
mediately, and the white mark will be seen no more. 



TO REMOVE DUST OR MUD FROM A DRESS.— 

Take a small broom-corn whisk and (having shaken the 
dress) brush it carefully between the pleats or gathers. If 
there is mud on the skirt, rub it off vTith a piece of stout 
worsted stuff formed into a roll ; or with a clean course towel. 
A plush-block is an excellent thing for brushing silk or merino 
dresses. To make it, get a small square block of wood, and 
sew 'tightly all over it (in the manner of a pincushion) a 
covering of saddler's plush. 



TO TAKE INK OUT OF A COLOURED TABLE- 
COVER. — For a large ink-stain, dissolve a tea-spoonful of 
oxalic acid, in a tea-cup of hot water. Pour it into a bowl, 
and dip into it the part that is stained by the ink ; rubbing it 
well in the solution. If the ink does not come out well, mix 
some fresh oxalic acid and hot water, and add it to the first. 
Rub the stain a while longer ; and when the ink has all come 
out, dip the part immediately in water that is warm but not 
hot. Rub it well in the water, to get the oxalic acid entirely 
out; for if allowed to remain in, it will corrode the article. 
Then wash the table-cover, directly, in the manner described 
in a former receipt. 

"If these directions are carefully followed, the ink will be 
extracted, and the colours of the table-cloth not in the least 
disturbed. 

If ink is spilled on white clothes, apply the oxalic acid, as 
above, and then put the article at once into the boil. This 



STAIN S, GREASE, ETC. 87 

application of oxalic acid, used very carefully, will also remove 
ink spots from coloured dresses. And it will take out stains 
of tea, even from a bufF-coloured article, on which a tea-stain 
has turned blackish. 

Oxalic acid and hot water will also remove iron-mould. 
After applying it according to the above directions, place the 
article in the hot sun for about a quarter of an hour. 

Though a powder, it is best to keep oxalic acid in a bottle 
tightly covered; taking care that the word "Poison" is. written 
conspicuously on the label. The mistress of the family should 
not allow it to go out of her own possession. 



TO REMOVE INK-SPOTS FROM WHITE CLOTHES. 

— ^This must be done before the clothes are washed. Pick 
some tallow from the bottom of a clean mould candle. Rub 
it hard on the ink-spots, and leave it sticking there in bits, till 
next day, or longer. Then let the article be washed and boiled ; 
and if it is merely common ink, the stain will entirely disap- 
pear. Of course, this remedy can only be used for white 
things, as coloured clothes cannot be boiled without entirely 
fading them. We know it to be efficacious. The tallow must 
be rubbed on quite cold. 



TO TAKE OUT MARKING INK.— Wet some chloride 
of lime with warm water, and rub it on the mark with you: 
finger; repeating it till the ink disappears. Wash out the 
place immediate./ ; as, if left in, the chloride of lime will 
injure the linen. Oxalic acid or salt of sorrel, rubbed on aftei 
the mark has been wetted with warm water, will also take it out. 



TO REMOVE FRESH INK FROM A CARPET.— As 

soon as the ink has been spilled, take up as much as you can 



88 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

with a spoon, and then pour on cold water repeatedly, stil. 
taking up ine liquid with the spoon. Next, rub the place with 
a little wet oxalic acid or salt of sorrel, and wash it oflf imme- 
diately with cold water. Then rub on some hartshorn. 



TO TAKE INK OUT OF UNPAINTED WOOD.— 

When a desk or bench or floor is stained with ink, cut a lemon 
or a lime in half, and rub the spots with it. Then wash it off 
with warm water. 

Vinegar is a tolerable substitute for lemon-juice, in removing 
ink-stains from boards. 



TO TAKE INK OUT OF MAHOGANY.— Mix a small 
tea-spoonful of oil of vitriol with a large table-spoonful of soft 
water ; dip into it a bit of clean flannel, and rub it on the ink- 
spots lightly and quickly, till they disappear. Then wash it 
off with a little milk, and rub it dry. 

Or you may wet a little salt of tartar or oxalic acid and rub 
It on the ink-spot, washing it off immediately after the ink has 
disappeared. 



TO REMOVE HEAT MARKS FROM A TABLE— 

If a whitish mark is left on a table by carelessly setting on it 
a pitcher of boiling water, or a hot dish, pour some lamp oil 
on the spot, and rub it hard with a soft cloth. Then pour on 
a little spirits of wine or Cologne water, and rub it dry with 
another soft cloth. The white mark will thus disappear, and 
the table look as well as ever. 



TO RESTORE MILDEWED LINEN— Clothes some 
times become mildewed from remaining damp too long before 
they are ironed, or from other causes. If they are clothes tha 



STAINS, GREASE, ETC. 



89 



have no dye or colouring about them, let them be dipped in 
very sour buttermilk, and then spread on the grass in the sua 
When they are dry, wash out the buttermilk in cold watei; 
and repeat the process till the mildew disappears. 

Another way of removing mildew, is to soap the spots, and 
then, while wet, to cover them with fine chalk scraped to pow 
der. Rub it well in, and then expose the article to the sun. 
By repeating the application the mildew will disappear. 

Another way, is to mix some soft soap with powdered 
starch, adding half as much salt as you have of the starch, and 
also the juice of a lemon. With this mixture cover the mildew 
on both sides, and lay the article on the grass ; keeping it out 
night and day till the stain disappears. 



TO RESTORE SCORCHED LINEN.— If linen has been 
scorched in ironing, and the mark did not go entirely through 
so as to damage the texture, it may be removed by .the follow- 
ing process: — Take two onions, peel them, slice them, and 
extract the juice by squeezing or pounding. Then cut up half 
an ounce of white soap, and two ounces of fuller's earth, mix 
with them the onion-juice and half a pint of vinegai. Boil 
this composition well : then spread it, when cool, over the 
scorched part of the linen, and let it dry on. Afterwards wash 
out the linen. 



TO WHITEN LINEN THAT HAS TURNED YEL- 
LOW. — Cut up a pound of fine white soap into a gallon of 
milk, and hang it over the fire in a wash-kettle. When the 
soap has entirely melted, put in the linen, and boil it half an 
hour. Then take it out ; have ready a lather of soap and warm 
water; wash the linen in it, and then rinse it through two cold 
waters, with a very little blue in the last. 



90 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

TO RESTORE LINEN THAT HAS LONG BEEN 
STAINED. — Rub the stains on each side with wet brown 
soap. Mix some starch to a thick paste with cold water, and 
spread it over the soaped places. Then expose the. linen to 
the sun and air; and, if the stains have not disappeared in 
three or four days, rub off the mixture, and repeat the process 
with fresh soap and starch. Afterwards dry it, wet it with 
cold water, and put it in the wash. 



TO KEEP SILK.— Silk articles should not be kept folded 
in white paper, as the chloride of lime used in bleaching the 
paper will probably impair the colour of the silk. Brown or 
blue paper is better : the yellowish smooth India paper is 
best of all. Silk intended for a dress should not be kept in the 
house long before it is made up, as lying in the folds will have 
a tendency to impair its durability by causing it to cut or split, 
particularly if the silk has been thickened bj^ gum. We knew 
an instance of a very elegant and costly thread-lace veil being 
found on its arrival from France cut into squares (and therefore 
destroyed) by being folded over a paste-board card. 

A white satin dress should be pinned up in blue paper, 
with coarse brown paper outside, sewed together at the edges. 

The best way of keeping ribbons is to roll them round the 
blocks made for the purpose, and then wrap them in soft 
paper. You can easily obtain a few blocks from the stores 
where ribbons are sold. The block should be a little wider 
than the ribbon, that the edges may not be injured. When 
you have wound it smoothly round the block, secure the end 
of the ribbon with a little niinnikin pin. A large pin will 
leave holes, and perhaps green ones. 

In rolling two pieces of ribbon round the same block, place 
the first end of the second piece wide- the last end of the first 



STAINS, ORE AS E, ETC. 91 

piece, otherwiije there will be a ridge where the two como 
together. Take care, in rolling-, not to make the slightest crease. 
Never wrap silk or ribbon, or indeed any tiling that is to bo 
worn without washing, in a printed paper, as the printing ink 
will rub off and soil it. 



TO CLEAN WHITE SATIN SHOES.— Rub them 
hnglhways of the satin, with a piece of new white flannel 
dipped in spirits of wine. If slightly soiled, you may clean 
them by rubbing with stale bread. 

White satin shoes should be kept in blue paper closely 
wrapped, with coarse brown paper outside. 

To keep your thin light slippers in shape, when you put 
them away, fold them over lengthways or sideways, and tie 
the strings round them. You should have a covered box pur- 
posely for your shoes. 

STAIN MIXTURE.— Take an ounce of sal-ammoniac, (or 
hartshorn,) and an ounce of salt of tartar: mix them well, put 
them into a pint of soft water, and bottle it for use, keeping it 
very tightly corked. Pour a little of this liquid into a saucer, 
and wash in it those parts of a white article that have been 
stained with ink, mildew, fruit, or red wine. When the stains 
have by this process been removed, wash the article in the 
usual manner. 

Another stain mixture useful for removing ink-spots, is to 
dissolve half an ounce of oxalic acid in a pint of soft water; 
then bottle and cork it for use, shaking it well. To use it, 
stretch the ink-stain over a bowl of hot water, and rub it with 
a sponge dipped in the oxalic solution. Then wash and dry it 



CLOTHES BALLS.— -Take four ounces of fuller's eartli, 
dried so as to crumble into powder, and mix with it half an 



93 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

ounce of pearl-ash. Wet it with a sufficiency of lemon-juice 
to work it into a stiff paste. Then form it into balls, and dry 
them in the sun, or on the top of a moderately warm stove. 
When quite dry, put them away for use. They will be found 
efficacious in removing grease spots and stains from articles of 
clothing, first wetting the spot with cold water, and then rub- 
bing on the ball ; afterwards drying the place in the sun or by 
the fire, and then washing it off with a sponge and clean water. 



SALT OF LEMON.— This is the popular but erroneous 
name of a mixture very efficacious in taking out stains from linen, 
or from the hands. To prepare it, pound together in a mortar, 
equal quantities of oxalic acid and cream of tartar, (say an 
ounce of each,) mixing them thoroughly. Or the druggist of 
whom you buy the two articles, will have them pounded for 
you. Put it into small boxes, and keep it closely covered, and 
free from damp. When used, it must be moistened with a 
little water. If your hands are stained witli ink, fruit, or 
indeed with any thing, dip them in water, and then rub on the 
stained parts a little of this powder; afterwards washing it off 
witli fine soap. If swallowed, this powder is poison. 

A piece of lemon or the half of a lime, rubbed on hard, will 
also remove stains from the hands. 



WILMINGTON CLAY BALLS— These are excellent 
for extracting grease, and may be had in Philadelphia, at most 
of the drug-stores. Their colour is a yellowish white ; they 
are softer than fuller's earth. They cost but a trifle, and no 
house should be without them. They are made entirely of a 
peculiar sort of clay, found at Wihnington, Del. ; and to use 
them, they must be scraped down, and the powder rubbed on 
the grease-spot. 



93 



DOMESTIC DYES. 



REMARKS. 

All articles to be dyed at home, should, if they are not quite 
new, be well washed and boiled, so as to make them perfectly 
clean before they are put into the dye ; otherwise the colour 
will be dull and dingy, and the dirt will appear through it. 
Previous to going into the dye-kettle, they should be immersed 
either in lye, alum-water, or plain water; then well squeezed 
and shook out, and put into the dye wet all through ; otherwise 
the colour will spot or run in streaks. If they have been 
originally of another colour, that colour must be boiled out as 
much as possible, before they can take the new dye smoothly 
and evenly. White things, or those of a very pale pink, or 
pale blue, take a dark or black dye much better than when 
their colour was previously dark. 

If the shade is not deep enough the first time, dip them again 

in the dye. 

While the things are in the dye-kettle, keep them well 
opened out, lifting them up and down occasionally, and stirring 
them about with a stick. 

The dye for light colours should be made in earthen, tin, oi 
brass vessels, and generally set with alum. Dark colours 
should be boiled in iron, and usually set with copperas. 

Before you put in the article to be dyed, it is best to try tho 
colour upon a waste bit of the same material ; or by dipping 
in a piece of white paper. 



94 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

PINK DYE. — Take a sufficient quantity of flowers of the 
bergamot plant ; pick them clean, and boil them in clear soft 
water ; making the dye stronger or paler as you choose. When 
well boiled, strain the liquid, and add to it a few drops of 
oil of vitriol ; more or less in proportion to the quantity of dye. 
There must be just enough of the vitriol to give the liquid a 
slight acid taste; but if there is too much, it will injure 
the texture of the article to be dyed. This article (it should 
always be a white one) must previously be well washed in hot 
soap-suds to make it perfectly clean. Then rinse it in cold 
water, squeeze it, shake it out, and put it w^et into the dye. 
When it is thoroughly imbued, rinse it in cold water. Lastly, 
dry and smooth it with a stone, or with a very cool iron. 

This is a beautiful pink dye for white silk scarfs, handker- 
chiefs, &c. For those articles a little gum arable water (for 
instance, a table-spoonful or more) should be mixed with the 
rinsing w^ater. The fringe at the edges should be nicely 
pulled out and shook while drying. 

The bergamot flowers, if carefully dried and put up in white 
papers, will answer very well for the dye, at seasons when no 
fresh ones are to be had. 



RED. — Having boiled in brass or earthen, two gallons of 
clear soft water, half a pound of wheat bran, and three ounces 
of powdered alum ; strain it, return it to the kettle, and put in 
half an ounce of cream of tartar, and half an ounce of cochi- 
neal ; each tied in a separate thin muslin bag. Boil it about 
a quarter of an hour. Then dip in the article to be dyed, and 
proceed in the usual manner. 

If you wish a deeper red, use a smaller proportion of watei 
ana more of the cochineal. 



DOMESTIC DYES. 95 

YELLOW. — Procure from a drug store, a sufRcient quantity 
if temerech or turmeric powder; tie it up in a muslin rag, and 
i)oil it in alum-water, or in skim milk. Have ready the article 
to be dyed, (which, if not quite new, must be made perfectly 
clean by washing.) When the turmeric liquid has arrived at 
the tinge you wish, take out the bag, put in the article, (which 
must be previously wet thoroughly,) and give.it a boil. Then 
squeeze it out, and stretch, dry, and iron it as quickly as 
possible. 

Turmeric will give a beautiful yellow colour to white silk 
handkerchiefs, scarfs, or ribbons. Also to muslin for curtain- 
linings ; and to the thin muslin used for covering gilt frames, 
lamps, &c., in the summer. 

The flowers of the French marigold, picked to pieces, and 
boiled with a bit of alum, will dye a fine lemon yellow. The 
article to be dyed must be white, washed very clean, and then 
steeped in cold water. After the marigold dye has been boiled 
and strained, put the article in wet, and boil it till well coloured. 

Another yellow may be dyed, by tying some saifron in a thin 
muslin bag, and boiling it in alum water, in an earthen vessel. 
Then strain it, and when cool, put in the article. 

Peach leaves will make a yellow dye. Also onion skins. 



BLUE. — Boil gently together in clear soft water, a pound 
of woad, half a pound of indigo, and two ounces of alum. 
Then strain it, and add an ounce of pyroligneous acid oi 
vinegar of wood. Take the article to be dyed, (which must 
be white,) and if dirty, wash it well. Then soak it in clean 
water, wring it very well, and put it wet into the dye. Keep 
it in till you perceive that it has thoroughly taken the colour, 
stirring it about with a stick. Then dry it, and afterwards 
wash it out in w^arm soap-suds. 



93 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

BLUE COMPOSITION— This is a compound of indigo 
««nd fitriol, and can be obtained at the druggists in a phial. 
The cost is twelve cents an ounce, and it colours silk a fine 
blue ; but must not be used for cotton. The proportion for a 
light blue, is ten or fifteen drops of this composition, mixed in 
a quart of warm soft water, and then stirred and strained. If 
you wish it darker, add more of the blue compound. Immerse 
in it the article to be dyed, (first wetting it,) and when it has 
taken well, wring it out, and dry it. "When quite dry, wash 
it in cool soap-suds, and dry it again. This will prevent its 
being injured by the vitriol. 



DARK BLUE. — Boil four ounces of copperas in two gal- 
lons of water. Having wetted the article, dip it into the cop- 
peras dye while hot. Then rinse it through cold water. Have 
ready a strong decoction of logwood boiled and strained, and 
dip the article through that till it has taken a fine dark blue. 
Dry it, and then wash it in soap-suds. 



GREEN. — Make first a fine yellow dye of turmeric, tied up in 
thin muslin, and boiled in soft water, with some pieces of alum. 
Having thoroughly wet the article to be dyed, put it into the 
dye, (^after it has become tepid or lukewarm,) and stir it about 
till it has taken. Then open it out, and dry it. Afterwards 
stir into the yellow dye a sufficient quantity of the druggist's 
blue indigo-composition, (a little at a time,) to make it the tint 
of green you require. Then put into water the article that is 
already dyed yellow; and when well soaked, squeeze it out, 
and put it wet into the green dye. When it has taken the 
green thoroughly, (perhaps in fifteen minutes,) dry it, and 
smooth it with a stone. A warm iron will injure the colour. 

This dye must not be used for cotton. 



D O M E S TI C D Y E S. 97 

A good proportion of the ingredients for a bright green dye, 
IS two ounces of turmeris:; to four gallons of water, with four 
ounces of pulverized alum ; and for the blueing, half a table- 
spoonful of the indigo compound. For a more yellowish 
green, use more turmeric ; for a more blueish, a larger pro- 
portion of the indigo mixture. 

For a dark or bottle green, take twelve ounces of fustic, and 
three ounces of bruised alum, and boil them in three gallons 
of water. Then stir in (by degrees) the indigo composition, 
till you get the colour as dark as you wish. 



AN EXCELLENT BUFF DYE— For about twelve 
yards of white cotton or thick muslin, prepare in a brass kettle 
two gallons of soft water, into which put a large tea-cupful 
of pot-ash sewed up in a flannel bag. After the pot-ash has 
entirely dissolved in the water, hang the kettle over the fire, 
and let it become scalding hot ; but do not allow it to boil. 
When almost at the boiling point, take out the pot-ash bag, 
and put in an ounce of anatto or aronetta-powder, sewed up in 
a linen bag. Let the anatto bag simmer in the water about 
half an hour, till the kettle is almost at a boil. Then have 
ready the article, which must be previously washed in a strong 
warm pot-ash water. Remove the kettle from the fire ; put 
into it the wet muslin that has been washed in the pot-ash 
water, and work it about in the dye; rinsing it up and down, 
till the whole of it has taken the colour thoroughly and evenly. 
Do not let it boil, as that may injure the tint. Then wring 
-it well, open and shake it, stretch it evenly, and hang it out to 
dry immediately. After it has entirely dried, wash it well in 
soap-suds, hang it out again, and iron it while damp. 

This will be found a very handsome colour for linings, bed- 
spreads, vallances, and common curtains. For the latter 

9 



98 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

purpose, it should have a fringe or a binding of black, dark- 
green, brown, purple, or crimson. Aronetta alone, makes a 
well known salmon colour; but this addition of pot-ash gives 
it a beautiful bright buff tint, such as is generally called bird of 
paradise colour. It will bear repeated washings, without 
fading. 

For a more yellowish tinge, use a larger portion of pot-ash ; 
for a more reddish, increase the quantity of aronetta. 

This dye may be made of a deep nankeen colour, if 
desired. 



COMMON ARONETTA DYE.— Tie up some aronetta or 
anatto powder (for instance, twelve cents worth) in a thin 
muslin bag, and rub it into a strong lather, (good soft soap is 
best for this purpose,) or into weak lye. Having soaked the 
article in cold water, wring it out, open it, and boil it in the 
dye. Then dry it in the shade, and iron it. 

This quantity is sufficient for twelve yards of thick muslin, 
which will be found very useful for linings and other 
purposes. 

The proper name of this dye-stuff is anatto or arnotto, but 
its popular appellation is aronetta. 



FINE SALMON COLOUR.— Make a strong lather with 
very good soap. Tie up in a thin muslin bag a sufficient 
qua«tity of anatto or aronetta powder, (not less than six cents 
worth,) and rub it into the lather : then give it a boil for a 
quarter of an hour. Having wet the article to be dyed very 
thoroughly with alum-water, put it into the dye, and let it boil 
for half an hour or more, in proportion to its size and tl^ickness 
'l.'hen take it out, dry, and iron it. 

This quantity will dye six yards of silk or muslin. 



DOMESTIC DYES. 99' 

NANKEEN COLOUR.— Take a sufficient quantity of 
'^Jrch bark, split it small, and tie it up in a thin cotton cloth. 
Put it into a brass or tin kettle with soft water and a few bits 
of alum. When it has boiled till you get the right colour, let 
it cool a little, and put in the article to be dyed, having first 
wet it thoroughly. 



SLATE COLOUR.— This may be obtained by the very 
simple process of boiling in vinegar with a bit of alum, 
some pieces of the thick purple paper that comes round sugar- 
loaves. Then strain it and return it to the kettle, which must 
be of iron. Having first boiled all the original colour out of 
the articles to be dyed slate, and steeped them in cold water, 
squeeze them out, open them, put them wet into the new dye, 
and boil them till thoroughly coloured. Then dry them, and 
wash them in soap-suds. 



BLACK. — First, in hot soap-suds boil out as much as pos- 
sible the previous colour of the article to be dyed, and then 
wash it in soft water. Have ready a dye made in the propor- 
tion of a gallon of vinegar to a pound of ground logwood, 
chipped small and tied up in a thin bag. Let it stand ^11 
night. In the morning add a piece of copperas half the size 
of an egg, (or larger, according to the quantity of dye,) and boil 
the whole for an hour; then strain it. Having made the article 
to be dyed thoroughly wet by soaking it in lukewarm water, 
squeeze it, shake it out, and immerse it in the dye ; boiling it 
a quarter of an hour or more in proportion to its size, and stir- 
ring it about with a stick. Take it out, dry it, wet it all 
through again, and give it another boil in the dye. Repeat 
this a third time. Afterwards, to soften it from the harshness 
left by the black dye, wash it in tepid soap-suds, and let it lie 



•100 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

in the lather about a quarter of an hour. Rinse it first in clear 
water, and then (if the article is silk) pass it through a weak 
gum arable water. Stretch it well, dry it in the shade, and 
then press it. 

This dye will be found useful for silk articles. A dress 
must be taken entirely to pieces before it is dyed. 

To obtain a jet black ; make first a strong decoction of green 
walnut husks ; and after it has boiled an hour, strain it, and 
put in the silk, which must first be steeped in luke-warm water. 
Then take it out from the walnut liquor, dry it, and having 
soaked it in water a second time, put it into a kettle of black 
dye made, (as before-mentioned,) with logwood, vinegar, and 
copperas, and proceed according to the directions. 



CINNAMON BROWN.— Take half a pound of ground 
camwood, tie it in a thin bag, and put it into a brass or tin 
kettle with two gallons of soft water. Boil it a quarter of an 
hour. Then strain it, and put in the article, wet thoroughly in 
water. Dip it carefully, and repeat the dipping till it takes 
the colour completely. 

With the dye that is left, you may obtain different shades 
of brown by adding, in small quantities, more or less copperas ; 
Sfivinor it another boil 



to 



OLIVE COLOUR.— Boil together fustic, and walnut or 
yellow-oak bark. For a bright olive use more fustic, for a dark 
one more walnut bark. When the liquid is well coloured^ 
strain it, and put in the article wet ; adding, for a light tint a 
little vitriol; for a dark one a little copperas, to set the colour. 



101 



COUNTRY MANNER OF DYEING 
WOOL OR YARN. 



REMARKS. 

All wool or woollen yarn should, before dyeing, be well 
washed or scoured in strong warm soap-suds, so as to free it 
entirely from grease : otherwise it will not take the dye. It 
should then be opened out, and dried ; and before it goes into 
the dye, it should be made thoroughly wet with cold water, and 
then squeezed out and opened. When it comes out of the dye, 
and has taken the colour properly, it must be put in the open 
air to dry. If raw wool, spread it on boards; if yarn, hang it 
on lines. When it is quite dry, take a bucket of warm water 
(not hot) and mix with it a tea-cup full of lye. Wash the 
article through two of these warm lye-waters, and rinse it in 
cold water till the colour ceases to come out. Then dry it 
again. 

Raw wool should be carefully picked and opened before 

washing for the dye. 

All dye-stuffs must be strained before using. The kettle 
snould then be washed, the dye-stuff returned to it, and the 
article to be coloured put in. 

The barks used in dyeing should be taken from the trees in 
April or May, when the sap is in them. 



BROWN. — In the spring when the sap comes up, take a 
sufficient quantity of bark from the white walnut tree. Spread 
m a tub or in a half barrel a plentiful layer of this bark, and a 



9* 



102 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

thin layer of picked wool, alternately, till the tub Is two-thirds 
full. Then pour on enough of cold soft water to cover the 
whole. Lay stones on the top to keep it down. Let it stan«K 
some days in the sun and air, till the water becomes a very 
dark brown. Examine the wool to see if it is thoroughly 
coloured. Then open it out, and spread it on boards to dry. 
When dry, if you find it not dark enough, repeat the process. 
It is best to do it in warm weather. 

Another shade of brown may be obtained by mixing with a 
large quantity of the white walnut bark, a small portion of the 
bark of sour sumach. 

A light brown may be produced by boiling, in a brass kettle, 
some bark of the white maple with a lump of alum. 



BUFF COLOUR.— Take in the spring some birch bark. 
Put it into a brass kettle, and pour on sufficient water to cover 
\i. Then add a proportionate piece of alum, (for instance, about 
ftalf the size of an egg or larger,) and let it boil half an hour. 
Strain it, and return it to the kettle, which must previously be 
^yashed clean. Then having thoroughly wetted the article by 
dipping it in weak lye, and squeezed and shook it out, put it 
into the dye, and let it boil till it has taken the colour com- 
pletely. If, when dry, you find it too pale, repeat the dyeing. 



ORANGE COLOUR.— Put into a brass or copper kettle 
some black-alder bark (taken in the spring) and a sufficiency 
of soft water to cover it. Boil and skim it till you have a 
strong fine colour, and then strain it. Have ready a rather 
strong lye and dip the wool or woollen into it, then squeeze it 
out, and put the article into the dye while warm, letting it 
remain in it till the liquid gets cold. Afterwards squeeze it 
oj)en it out, and dry it in the air. 



COUNTRY MANNER OF DYEING. 103 

RED. — Steep five pounds of Brazil wood for a week in rain 
or river water : then boil it in a sufficient quantity of water to 
ccver the yarn you intend dyeing. First soak the yarn in 
alum-water so as completely to saturate it. Then (while wet) 
boil it in the dye, which must be previously strained. Then 
open it out and dry it. 

Afterwards take a bucket of warm (not hot) water without 
soap, and mix with it a tea-cup full of lye. Wash the yarn 
thus, through two warm waters, and rinse it till the colour 
ceases to come out. This must always be done with dyed 
yarn. 



YELLOW. — Boil together two-thirds of black oak bark and 
one-third of hickory, with sufficient water to cover the yarn, 
which must first be steeped in alum-water. When the two 
barks have boiled together till they produce the colour you 
want, strain the liquid, and put the yarn into it wet. 

The bark of the sweet apple tree will dye a good yellow. 



BLUE AND GREEN— A week before you wish to dye 
the article, get two ounces of indigo and four ounces of oil of 
vitriol : mix them together in a clean bottle, cork it tightly, 
and let it stand to infuse : shaking it several times every day. 
This, if used by itself, will make a blue dye diluted with 
water to any tint you wish. When added to certain barks, it 
will make a green, as follows : 

Take two-thirds of black oak bark and one-third of hickory 
bark, (stripped from the trees in April or May,) and boil them 
together in soft water for twelve hours. After which strain 
the liquid, and mix with it the infusion of indigo and oil of 
vitriol which you have made a week previous. Then dip the 
yarn into alum-water, and while wet steep it in the dye. The 



104 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

above quantity of ingredients will colour sufficient 3'^arn for 
two coverlets. 

"When the yarn has taken the colour completely, open it out 
and spread it to dry in the shade. 



BLACK. — Make a decoction of blue Aleppo nut-galls by 
bruising them coarsely, and then pouring on them boiling 
water in the proportion of a gallon of water to a pound of nut- 
galls. Let the decoction stand for three or four days or more, 
stirring it frequently. Prepare at the same time, in anothei 
vessel, a decoction of a quarter of a pound of chipped logwood, 
and four ounces of green copperas, to two quarts of boiling 
Urater, and let it stand also three or more days, stirring it often. 
Afterwards strain the decoction of gall-nuts into a brass or 
copper kettle, put into it the woollen or yarn, and boil it two 
hours. Then take it out; empty and wash the kettle, and 
strain into it the decoction of logwood and copperas. Put in 
the yam again ; hang it over the fire, and keep the dye for two 
hours at a scalding heat, but do not let it come to a boil ; fre- 
quently taking out the yarn and exposing it a little while to 
the air, which will give it a better black. When it has 
thoroughly, taken the dye, spread it out to dry, and afterwards 
wash it in warm water mixed with a little lye, and then rinse 
it well. 



105 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, &c. 



REMEDIES FOR BED-BUGS OR CHINCHES— In 

new houses, where the habits of the family are neat, and a gene- 
ral attention is paid to cleanliness throughout, there will be 
little danger of bed-bugs ; but on removing to an old house 
which has had various occupants, these disgusting and intolera 
ble insects frequently make their appearance with the co-m- 
mencement of the w^arm weather (and sometimes before) from 
having been unpardonably allowed to get possession even of the 
crevices of the wood-work on the walls ; and if the chambers 
are papered, they often contrive to effect a lodgment between 
the edges of the paper and the plastering. In this case the 
most efficient remedy is fo have the paper torn off, (first loosen- 
ing it by washing it all over with a broom or brush dipped in 
water,) and the walls purified by white-washing or painting. 
If bugs are found in the crevices of the surbase or wash-board 
v)f an old house, their haunts should be well washed with a 
strong decoction of tobacco boiled in water, or with a decoction 
of red peppers. If these washes (which by frequent repetition 
generally succeed) should fail to destroy them, the crevices, as 
a last resource, should be rubbed with quicksilver beaten up 
with white of egg; and afterwards filled up with putty or wad 
ding, or with quick-lime mixed with water. 

If on moving into a house, it is found to be free from bugs oi 
other vermin, the utmost care should be taken to keep it so , 
remembering always the homely proverb that •' an ounce of 
prevention is worth a pouni of cure." 



106 THE HODsT BOOK. 

An absurd idea is strangely prevalent that bugs never origi- 
nate in a mahogany bedstead. Notliing can be more false. 
Ttiere is no wood of which a bedstead can be made that pos- 
sesses any quality which is inimical to them. Old bedsteads 
are of course more likely to be infested with bugs than new 
ones ; and therefore it is not advisable to buy them at auction 
or in any second-hand way. Cot bedsteads are, of all others, 
the most productive of bugs. The old-fashioned press-bed- 
steads (which were made to open out when wanted at night, and 
during the day were turned up and shut within folding doors 
so as to resemble a ward-robe press) could never even with 
the greatest care be kept free from them. We have heard the 
same objection made to the sofa-beds, which have been tried 
by persons who desired to use the same room both as a parlour 
and a chamber. We believe that in our American climate, no 
bedstead or bedding, which during the day is shut up entirely 
from the air, can long continue free from these insects. 

For boarding-schools, hospitals, barracks, prisons, and all 
places where the sleeping apartments are small, or where many 
persons sleep in the same room, no bedsteads are comparable 
to those made entirely of iron ; which, however, should always 
be painted to prevent their rusting. 

Bugs will not only infest bedsteads, but also couches, sofas, 
cribs, cradles, easy-chairs, ward-robe-presses, and other arti- 
cles of furniture that are kept in bed-rooms ; therefore great 
care should be taken to inspect these things frequently. We 
have heard even of bugs getting into pianos that were kept in 
boarding-school chambers. Hair trunks should never be placed 
in bed-rooms, as they are apt to collect bugs, fleas, and moths. 
It is well not to use hair trunks at all. If those of leather are 
considered too expensive for common purposes, it is better to 
substitute strong wooden boxes, painted on the outside, and 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. 107 

furnished with hinges, handles, and a lock and key. These 
boxes are excellent for travelling, and also to hold articles at 
home. By bespeaking them of a carpenter, or cabinet-maker, 
they can be obtained with little trouble and expense. 

Servants (who in general sleep too soundly to feel much 
annoyance from any thing) are very apt to neglect the care of 
their beds, and frequently deny the existence of bugs in them, 
till they become infested to a degree that is difficult to remedy. 
When this is the case, it is a chance if the nuisance does not 
spread to the apartments of the family, the insects being con- 
veyed thither on the clothes of the servants. A good house- 
keeper will guard against this evil in time, by personal inspec- 
tion of the servants' apartments, and by insisting on the 
excellent practice of spreading out all their bed-clothes on 
chairs, every morning as soon as they are up, and also on 
raising the window-sashes, for the purpose of ventilating the 
room ; even in the coldest weather. 

If, however, their bedsteads are actually infested, they 
should be taken apart, carried into the yard, and the joints and 
pins first scalded with hot water, and then washed with cold 
strong soap-suds : as also the sacking-bottom ; the servants, if 
necessary, sleeping on the floor for one night, till the whole 
has had time to dry thoroughly. Before the bedstead is put 
together again, the joints should be well rubbed with strong 
mercurial ointment ; or with some of the other applications 
recommended for the destruction of insects. A servant's bed- 
stead can hardly be considered safe, unless it is. taken down 
and cleaned once a month during the warm weather ; and the 
mistress of the house should see that it is done. 

It is not well to place bedsteads with one side against the 
wall. This increases the heat, obstructs the free circulation of 
iir, and adds to the difficulty of keeping them free from bugs 



108 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

Even in a small room, some sacrifice of space should be 
made for the purpose of having the bedstead to stand out in 
the floor ; so that only the head may be against the wall. 

It is an excellent custom to have all the bedsteads washed 
at the joints with cold suds made of brown or soft soap, regu- 
larly once a week, (for instance, on Friday,) spreading a 
coarse cloth under or round the feet, to catch the droppings of 
the water. After the bedstead is washed, the bedding should be 
kept all day spread about the room, or in a back balcony, and 
the bed not made up till towards evening. 

If proper precautions are observed, there is little danger of a 
well managed family being troubled with insects in their bed- 
steads ; unless, as remarked above, they chance to move into 
an old or ill kept house. It will be well then, as a preventive, 
to cover all the cracks or joints of the bedstead with strong 
mercurial ointment, rubbing it in with the finger, A small 
box of this ointment may be found useful in travelling, to rub 
on the bedstead before you retire to it. 

One of the best remedies and preventives for bed-bugs, is to 
procure from a druggist an ounce of quicksilver, and beat it in 
a mortar to a strong froth, with the whites of two eggs ; or if 
you wish it very powerful, and thick like an ointment, use the 
white of one egg only. If liquid, spread it with the feather 
of a quill : or, what is still better, with a large old camel's 
hair brush, all over the cracks and pins of the bedstead, (not 
forgetting the under side of all the joints,) and see that it pene- 
trates thoroughly. If you have made an ointment of it, rub it 
on with your finger. This is considered a still better remedy 
than the common mercurial ointment, but cannot always be as 
promptly obtained. 

To wash the joints and pins of the bedstead frequently with 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. 103 

sweet spirits of nitre is a tolerable remedy for bugs when they 
pre not numerous. 

Corrosive sublimate, mixed with spirits of wine, and rubbed 
into all the cracks, will also destroy them ; but it must be 
repeated frequently, washing it w^ell into the cracks with a quill 
feather, or a soft brush. 

A very good way of keeping bedsteads free from bugs, is, 
after a weekly washing with cold soap-suds, to take a sponge 
and wet every joint and pin with a mixture made as follows. 
Put into a quart bottle equal quantities of spirits of wine and 
spirits of turpentine, adding a large table-spoonful of oil of 
vitriol, and an ounce of powdered camphor. Cork it tightly, 
imd keep it for use. This should be applied every week, be- 
ginning the first of March, and continuing till November. 

A most effectual remedy against bugs is to have all the bed- 
steads in the house taken down every spring, (in March, for 
instance,) and after washing the joints with cold water and 
brown soap, to have the whole bedstead completely varnished 
(even on the inside of the joints) with varnish procured from 
a cabinet-maker ; or getting a cabinet-maker's man to come 
and do it. The expense will be small in comparison to the 
benefit. 

Also, carefully stop up with putty all the cracks and cre- 
vices, however small, of the wash-board and surbase. 

Or for stopping the cracks, you may use quick-lime made 
into a dough with water, and plastered into all the crevices 
with a knife. 



COCKROACHES. — Every house should be provided with 
tockroach traps. They are made of brown earthenware, and 
are to be bought for a trifle at the pottery shops, or in ♦he 



10 



110 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Philadelphia market. Bait them with molasses mixed with a 
little' water, and set them about at night, when the lights are 
removed. 

Cockroaches should not be allowed to increase, or they will 
soon become an intolerable nuisance ; and when very nume- 
rous, it is extremely difficult to get rid of them. It is best, as 
soon as the first one makes its appearance, to resort immedi- 
ately to effective measures for their destruction ; for if taken 
in time, they are easily extirpated. Let every cockroach that 
is found on the stairs be immediately killed ; for if they once 
get into the upper part of the house there is danger of their 
creeping into the beds, and finding their way into trunks, band- 
Doxes, and clothes-presses, where they will eat holes in arti- 
cles of clothing, if not discovered in time. 

A strong decoction of hellebore leaves, set about in pans, 
will destroy cockroaches. 

A pound of chloride of lime mixed with a quart of water, 
and placed where they abound, is destructive to them. 

Another remedy for cock-roaches is to boil the roots of the 
pokeberry plant till quite dissolved in the water, and then mix 
it with molasses, and set it about in old saucers. 

The following is a good remefly : — Take six cents worth, o 
more, of powdered white lead, (you may obtain it at a paint o, 
drug store,) put it on an old plate, and mix it with Indian meal, 
and coarse brown sugar or molasses. Then with a little water 
make it into a paste, using for the purpose a broad-bladed 
knife, or an iron spoon. Spread it on old plates or saucers, and 
set it about wherever you have seen cock-roaches. They will 
eat it readily, and it will destroy them. It is best to mix it 
fresh every day till the cock-roaches disappear. 

Arsenic powder strewed among bread and butter jrumbs. 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. Ill 

and laid at night about their haunts, will effectually destroy 
them. As it is a deadly poison, take care to shut out your cats 
and dogs from the rooms in which you have placed it. 

Scalding with a hot decoction of tobacco the holes and cracks 
from which the cock-roaches issue, will greatly diminish their 
numbers. The scalding should be frequently repeated. 



FLEAS. — Fleas are often brought to a house by cats and 
dogs ; for which reason those animals should be kept very 
clean. In the country, if pigs are allowed to be near the 
house, they will soon cause it to abound in fleas. So also 
will the immediate neighbourhood of a stable. Shavings, 
if permitted to accumulate and lie about, will also produce 
them. To prevent their originating in blankets and other 
woollens that are put away for the summer, it is well to 
spread among the folds numerous sprigs of penny-royal. 
Shreds or flakes of tobacco are also good for this purpose ; so 
are- lumps of camphor, broken small. 

In catching fleas the best and surest way to kill them is to 
put them instantly into a basin of water. 

Sprigs of wild myrtle, or penny-royal, or small flat camphor- 
nags dispersed about your under-clothes, and conveniently fast- 
ened, will keep fleas from molesting your person durino- the 
day. 

At night, let penny-royal be scattered over the bed-covers, 
and laid under the pillows and bolster; strewing a large quan- 
tity between, the sacking and the mattrass. Wash yourself 
before going to bed in water that has had essence of penny- 
royal mixed with it. 

Fumigation with brimstone will destroy fleas ; exposing tc 
the vapour of the burning sulphur all the articles that are 
infested with them. 



112 THE HOUSE BOOK. 



When fleas are found on cats, dogs, &c., they may be extir- 
pated by rubbing the animal all over with common snufF, taking 
care that it does not touch the eyes. 



CRICKETS. — To destroy crickets, put snufFinto the holes 
and cracks from whence they come out. 



FLIES. — Flies may be destroyed by the following prepara- 
tion : Dissolve four drachms of extract of quassia, (to be pro- 
cured at the druggists,) in a pint of boiling water, and then mix 
in a little brown sugar or molasses. Set it about on old 
saucers. 

Fly-traps (which are two flat broad pieces of wood, shaped 
into handles at the bottom, and united at the back by a leathern 
hinge,) are used in some houses. They must be spread 
3pen, smeared with molasses on the inside, and stood up or 
hung in a convenient place. When filled with flies, shut the 
crap hard, so as to kill them. 

Cold green tea very strong, and sweeten^'^d with brown 
sugar, will, when set about in saucers, attract the flies and 
aestroy them. 

Bunches of indigo weed, or of penny-royal, stuck about the 
harness is said to keep flies from horses. 



MUSQUITOES. — ^The common opinion that musquitoes 
are attracted by the light, we believe to be erroneous. Out of 
-^oors they are much more numerous in dark shady places than 
:n open sunshine ; and the time that they get into the houses, 
is in the dusk of the evening, before the candles or lamps are 
lighted. They are very quick-sighted as to the approach of 
danger, and in trying to kill them on a wall, it is best not to 
attempt to strike them with the palm of your hand, but merely 



INSECTS RATS MICE, ETC. 113 

with your finger as they are less likely to perceive the impend- 
ing blow. 

Musquito nets are somewhat of safe-guards from the incur- 
sions of this tormenting insect, and in the south they are con- 
sidered indispensable. But where the musquitoes are not very 
numerous, it may be well to omit the use of nets, as they cause 
an uncomfortable feeling of confinement and oppression in a 
warm night, from their impeding the free circulation of air 
around the bed. Also a few stray musquitoes will generally 
contrive to get within the net before you let it down, and 
cause you much annoyance. Terrible, and, indeed, fatal acci- 
Jents have happened from the musquito net catching the flame 
of the candle, and setting the bedding on fire. 

Musquito nets are made of millinet, coarse leno, or coarse 
oobbinet. They are thrown over the tester or top-rail of the 
oed, and hang on all sides quite dow^n to the floor. A musquito 
oar is the net stretched on a frame of wood, so as to screen 
A low post bed, from the incursions of these insects. 

It is said that you may get rid of musquitoes for the night, 
by carrying into your room a shovel or chafing-dish of hot 
joals, and having thrown on it some browm sugar, close all the 
windows and doors, and let it burn till the smoke has died away. 

If you put some eau de cologne or spirits of camphor in a 
basin of cold water, and wash yourself well with it previous 
to going to bed, the musquitoes will be less likely to trouble 
you. 

Take a light in your hand, carefully search the walls of your 

room all round, the last thing before you lie down, and kill 

every musquito you see. If you are unwilling to stain the wall, 

you can catch and destroy them with the corner of a towel or 

handkerchief taken between your thumb and finger. Persons 

who have had practice ean do this very dexterously. 

10* 



Il4 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

If you have sufficient resolution to refrain from rubbing a 
musquito bite, and your blood is in a good state, it will seldom 
inflame or continue troublesome. If, however, the bites do 
inflame, and cause you much inconvenience, it will be well to 
cool and purify your blood by taking a wine-glass, or more, of 
dissolved epsom salts, about day -light every morning, for 
awhile. To have this always at hand, put a quarter of a 
pound of salts, in a clean quart bottle: fill it up with water, 
(either warm or cold) cork it tightly, and keep it in a closet 
in your room. 

We know no better remedy for musquito bites than salt and 
vinegar, which if applied immediately, and before the skin is 
broken by rubbing, will speedily extract the venom, allay the 
irritation, and cause the swellingr to subside without leavino- 
any mark or trace. In musquito season, it is well to keep in 
your closet a little bottle of vinegar, and a cup of salt, with a 
small plate or saucer to mix them on. Moisten some of the 
salt with sufficient vinegar to form a paste, (it must not be 
thin or liquid.) and then plaster it on thick all over the bite. 
Let it stay on till it falls off of itself, and then if necessary, 
renew the application. 

It is said that a paste of salt and vinegar, if immediately 
applied, has been known to extract the poison from the bite of 
a snake. At least it may be well to try it, till other remedies 
can be procured. 

Washing musquito bites with lead-water is a good remedy. 
So also is bay-rum. 



ANTS. — Few insects are more difficult to exterminate than 
the little red ants with which many houses are infested. They 
may be kept under, by frequently scalding with boiling water, 
the cracks and places from which they issue. To smear the 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. 115 

cracks of the closets between the shelves and the wall with 
corrosive sublimate will destroy them ; but as it is a deadly 
poison, it must be used with caution. Dishes and jars con- 
taining articles that the ants seem to like, should be set in pans 
of salt and water, and the pan should be surrounded with a 
ring of salt. If they infest the sideboard, let the feet be set 
constantly in tin or iron cups filled with salt and water. 

A circle of tar spread round each foot of the bench that 
holds the hives, will prevent ants from reaching the bees and 
destroying the honey. 



MOTHS. — Many persons erroneously suppose that the best 
way to prevent moths from getting into woollens or furs, is 
occasionally through the summer to hang these articles out in 
the sun and air. This is a great mistake, as it is by such ex- 
posure that the moths are most likely to get into them. On 
the contrary, in the spring, when the season is over for furs 
and woollens, they should be well shaken and brushed, and 
then wrapped up tightly in linen, laying among them lumps 
of camphor ; handfuls of fresh hops ; shreds of good tobacco, 
or cuttings of Russia leather; or strew among them ground 
black pepper or cedar shavings ; all of which are preventives to 
moths : but the camphor is by far the best, and most certain, 
particularly for furs. For blankets and carpets, you may use 
the best chewing-tobacco pulled to pieces, or tobacco stems. 
All woollens, &c. should be kept during the summer, 
unopened, in dark closets, presses, or chests. If by any chance 
or neglect, a press or closet should become infested with moths, 
let it be well scalded with a strong decoction of tobacco and 
repeatedly sprinkled with spirits of camphor. If this does not 
expel these troublesome insects, it is better to give up keeping 
woollens in that press, and to appropriate it to some other use. 



116 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Chests of cnmphor wood (for which many persons send to 
India) are excellent for keeping woollens, and well worth the 
cost. If muffs and tippets are kept always closely shut up in 
their ov/n boxes, with lumps of camphor, and shreds of tobacco, 
continually interspersed about the fur, they will be in no dan- 
ger from the moth. Furs had best be put away for the season 
as early as March. 

Cedar presses are preferable to all others, for xeeping cloth 
clothes or other woollen articles. 

Hair trunks rarely fail to introduce moths. 

The best time for putting away the woollens is in April, 
unless the season is so backward as still to require the use of 
them. One blanket for each bed should be kept out, and left 
in the chamber-closet, that it may be at hand in case of an 
uncomfortably cool night in the summer. 

Flannels should never be put out of the way entirely : as in 
a climate so variable as ours, they may be needed occasionally 
even in July and August. 



REMEDIES FOR STINGS OR BITES OF INSECTS. 

— If stung on your hand or foot, plunge it dire?;tly into cold 
water," (strong salt and water is better still,) and hold it there 
till some other remedy is prepared. A sting in any place will 
be much relieved by plastering on it immediately some clay or 
earth, mixed with a little water to the consistence of thick mud. 
Powdered chalk moistened with water is good. A paste of 
salt wet with vinegar is excellent. 

A slice of raw onion is said to allay the pain from the sting 
of a wasp or bee ; or you may wet the part, and rub a piece 
of indigo upon it. It is also very good to bathe the wound 
with laudanum, or with hartshorn, or with spirits of camphor, 
or with sweet oil. 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. 117 

All the above applications should be repeated till the inten 
sity of the pain subsides. If the sting shows a disposition to 
inflame, keep the place constantly wet with a rag soaked in a 
solution of Prussian blue and soft water. A poultice of cold 
.lead-water and bread-crumbs, is also a very soothing remedy. 
I' there seems to be danger of the sting becoming a sore, 
(which is sometimes the case when the blood is in a bad state, 
or if the stings are numerous,) take a dose of salts, and refrain 
from animal food. It may be well also to lose some blood. 

Another remedy, is to hold the part that is stung in pearl-ash 
and water, moderately strong. 

The pipe or hollow end of a key, pressed hard upon the 
Wv^und, will allay the pain of a sting. 

It sometimes happens that a wasp or bee is accidenially swal- 
lowet' : ) ou may in that case kill the insect immediately, by 
taking a rea-spoonful of salt dissolved in a little water ; this 
will also p.-e ^ent the sting from inflaming your throat. 

If bees swaim upon your head, hold an empty hive over it 
and smoke a s*^gar or a pipe. The vapour of the tobacco will 
drive them all upwards into the hive. 

The pain caused ly the sting of a nettle may be much allayed 
by rubbing the ptn vf^Mi balm, rosemary, mint, or sage 
leaves. 



RATS AND MICE-^rhei^ is much difficulty in getting 
rid of rats and mice, when tb^ y o.ice have found their way 
into a house. A good cat is one, of the best remedies for 
mice, but some cats are afraid to envOjinter a rat. 

To keep out rats, the cellar and k'tcK'^n windows (if the 
kitchen is in the basement story) shoald, at once, wh\le the 
house is finishing, be provided, both back an^ frort, \\W wire 
gratings for the windows. Rats and mice always get in from 



119 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

out of doors and from the neighbouring houses ; and if the base- 
ment windows have merely iron bars, they will easily slip 
between them. No cellar door should be kept open after 
sunset; indeed, we have more than once seen a rat going 
down into an open cellar in broad daylight. 

When any holes are found about the walls, they should be 
immediately and effectually stopped up ; with brick and mor- 
tar if outside, and if inside, by filling them with pounded 
glass, or waste newspaper, and nailing over them bits of 
board ; or rather sheet-lead or tin. 

In travelling, it is well to examine your chamber before you 
go to bed, and if you find any holes, stop them up for the night, 
by stuffing in, as tightly as possible, old newspaper, rags, or 
any thing you can conveniently obtain for the purpose. A hole 
in the floor may be covered by placing your trunk upon it. It 
is a good plan to have among your baggage a small mouse-trap, 
(carefully wrapped up, so that the roughness of the wires 
may not injure any other article,) and to bait it and set it on the 
floor of the room in which you sleep. This, by catching the 
mice, will prevent your being disturbed with their running 
about the room, and perhaps over your bed. 

The common cage-traps are the best, and may be bought for 
a trifle at the hard-ware stores. There are spring-traps so con- 
structed as to kill the mice at the moment they are caught ; but 
these are difficult to fix, and very soon get so much out of order 
as to be useless. Bait the trap with toasted cheese, bread and 
butter, or sweet-cake. You may, as a decoy, lay a train of 
crumbs from the mouse-hole to the trap. Mice soon learn to 
know a trap when they see it, and consequently avoid going 
near it ; therefore set it in a dark place, and cover it as much as 
possible with rags, waste paper, hay, or any thing that .will 
effectually conceal from them all but the entrance ; the scent 



INSECTS, RATS, MICE, ETC. 119 

only being sufficient to entice them to the bait. The most 
humane manner of destroying a mouse that has been thus 
caught, is to put the trap, without opening it, into a tub or 
bucket of water. 

When mice and rats have become numerous, the most effec- 
tive way of clearing them off, is by poison.. Bits of broken 
gltiss, bottles pounded to powder and mixed with mush, or with 
cold Indian meal and water, and laid about their haunts on old 
plates, will very generally destroy them. 

Whatever poison is prepared for rats and mice, it is well to 
place close beside it a shallow vessel of water. If the ani- 
mal can obtain water it will drink as soon as it has swallowed 
the poison, and then die directly on the spot, instead of run- 
ning to its hole and causing a disagreeable smell by perish- 
ing there. 

Another remedy, is to mix a large table-spoonful of flour 
with equal quantities of the seeds of hemlock or cicuta, and 
the scrapings of strong old cheese, pounding them together till 
quite fine. Set it about on old plates in places where the mice 
have appeared, but take care not to put it where provisions or 
any articles of food are kept. The same ingredients, mixed in 
larger quantities, will of course destroy rats. 

Powdered arsenic, spread on bread and butter, or sweet-cake, 
is certain destruction to rats and mice ; but great care should 
be taken to keep young children, and cats and dogs, out of the 
way of it, lest they eat it in mistake. All papers containing 
arsenic, should be labelled " Poison," and carefully locked up 
by the master or mistress of the house. 

To free a room from the smell of a dead mouse or rat ; take 
a small earthen vessel, in which put a little pounded salt-petre, 
(more or less according to the size of the room,) and pour on a 
sufficient quantity of oil of vitriol to saturate or wet it al* 



130 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

through profusely. Then place it where the unpleasant smell 
is most powerful, and leave it in the room ; shutting the doors 
and windows closely when you go out. In an hour or two, 
the effluvia from the dead animal will be no longer perceptible. 



EXPELLING INSECTS GENERALLY.—All insects 
dislike penny-royal. The odour of it destroys some, and 
drives away others. At seasons when fresh green bunches 
of penny-royal are not to be obtained, get oil of penny-royal ; 
pour some into a saucer, and steep in it small bits of wadding 
or raw cotton. Lay them about in corners, closet-shelves, 
bureau-drawers, boxes, and all places where you have seen 
cockroaches or ants, or wherever they are likely to be found. 
If the insects do not speedily disappear, renew the cotton and 
penny-royal. It is also well to place some of them about the 
bedsteads between the sacking and the mattrass. Bunches of 
penny-royal are excellent for brushing off that very annoying 
little insect the seed-tick. 

Red wafers, laid among books and papers, will sometimes 
preserve them from being nibbled by cockroaches, the red 
lead that colours the wafers being poisonous to them. 

Bits of wadding or raw cotton steeped in strong whisky, 
and laid among woollens, worsteds, or furs, when packed 
away during the summer, we know to be a good preservative 
against moths. Also, it is well to sew up the furs and small 
woollens in newspapers very closely, the printing-ink being 
destructive to the insects. 

Still, it is. the safest way to engage a furrier to take care of 
your furs during the summer. He will send for them, and 
send them home. The expense is trifling compared with the 
security. 



121 



FUEL, FIRES, &c. 



WOOD. — The best time to lay in wood, for winter fuel, ih 
in the summer, as at that season the price is comparatively 
low ; and if you buy it green, it will become dry enough before 
the cold weather sets in. If, however, you have occasion to 
buy wood during the winter, get the dryest you can find ; as 
green wood makes a very bad fire in a cold day, and is at no 
time good for cooking. There is, however, some economy in 
buying a few loads of large green wood purposely for back- 
logs; as there is much inconvenience in a dry back-log con- 
suming too rapidly. These green logs should be piled in ? 
place by themselves, and not mixed with the other wood.. 

The best wood for fuel is hickory, and the next is oak. 
Locust is also very good ; so are walnut, beech, and maple. 
Birch is tolerable. Chesnut wood is extremely unsafe from 
its tendency to snap and sparkle, and to throw its small coals 
all round. Pine wood is of little value as house fuel. * It 
blazes freely at first, but when its resinous qualities have ex- 
haled, (which is almost immediately,) the sticks turn black, 
and seem to moulder away without emitting any heat. Pine 
chips, however, from the rapidity with which they ignite, are 
excellent for kindling. 

Some families are in the practice of buying all their wood in 
large logs, and having them split up at once to a convenieni 
size as soon as they are sawed, and before they are piled ; 
engaging a wood-splitter to come with the sawyer and piler. 

This we know to be an excellent plan. A load of large fine 

11 



122 THE HOOSE BOOK. 

hickory or oak logs will, when split up, (reserving always a 
sufficient number for back-logs,) yield a much larger quantity 
of fuel, than if originally in small separate round sticks, and 
will therefore go farther. Also the cost of splitting is but ^ 
trifle, and bears no comparison to the advantage and conve- 
nience. In buying wood, the smaller and more ciooked it is, 
the less you have in a load ; on account of the numerous 
vacancies between the numerous sticks. 

The generality of servants are extremely wasteful in regard 
to fuel. In summer afternoons they frequently make up as 
large a fire to boil the tea-kettle, as they have had to cook the 
dinner, rendering the kitchen so hot, that they are obliged 
themselves to take refuge in the yard. They should be made 
to understand that in summer, the fire seldom requires addi- 
tional wood after dinner ; a few chunks being sufficient to boil 
the kettle, if it is hung on in time. 



WOOD FIRES.-r-To make a wood fire in an open fire 
place, begin by removing the andirons, and taking up dU the 
ashes of the preceding night, and sweeping the hearth very 
clean. It is well to wash the hearth every morning before the 
new fire is made. Then bring forward Whatever chunks or hot 
coals are found remaining from the fire that was covered up the 
night before; leaving sufficient space to put on a large back* 
log, on the top of which place another log somewhat smaller. 
»iay a large fore-stick across the andirons, and upon it, place 
the live coals and chunks for kindling; adding, if necessary, 
some chips, or bits of small wood. Then pile on two or three 
other sticks, (placing the smallest at the top) take the bellows, 
and blow the fire into a flame till the wood is well ignited. 

If you wish a very large fire, pile two logs on the back-log, 
which ought to be of great size ; and lay a large middle stick 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 123 

Between the back-log and the fore-stick. Put on plenty of live 
coala and kindlings, and add three or four good-sized sticks, 
(always placing the smallest at top,) and then blow the fire 
well. 

If you place the small sticks underneath, they will- shortly 
burn in two, and fall apart ; bringing the upper ones down with 
diem, and causing confusion and trouble. 

At night, before you go to bed, take off any long sticks that 
may happen to be on the fire at that time, and carry them out 
into the yard, throwing them on the ground, or pouring water on 
to extinguish them completely. This is safer and better than 
to stand them up in the chimney corner, and to water them out 
there, where they may chance to take fire again. Having re- 
moved the sticks, place the chunks and hot coals on the back- 
log, and throw over them ashes by shovel-fulls, till you have 
buried them entirely. This will keep the fire in till morning, 
when you uncover it to kindle with. 

For burning wood in a sitting-room or chamber, there is 
nothing better than a Franklin stove, which should always be 
provided with a fender to fit exactly round, that the floor may 
not be endangered by the coals and chunks rolling off the 
hearth. In a Franklin stave a soap-stone slab, by way of under 
back-log, will be found extremely convenient and economical ; 
as when the iron becomes hot, it consumes a large wooden 
back-log very soon. These soap-stone logs can be procured 
from the stone-cutters, who will fit them exactly to the stove 
or fire-place, first sending a man to take the measure. I'he 
expense is trifling, and the advantage great. 

There should be a thick iron bar to lay across the andirons, 
m front of the wood, to prevent the sticks from rolling forward. 

If the tongs become twisted, (as is often the case,) you may 



124 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

open them, by taking hold low down near the points, and 
pulling them apart. 

Always sweep the hearth after mending the fire. Have m 
a convenient place in the room, a brass nail, on which to nang 
the hearth-brush, which you may ornament with a bow of 
ribbon, renewed when it becomes soiled. Always after sweep- 
ing the hearth, look carefully at the bottom of the brush before 
you hang it up. Houses have taken fire from bits of hot coal 
being carelessly left among the bristles of the hearth-brush 
when it was put away. We knew an instance in Philadelphia, 
of a ladies bag having caught, from hanging on the same nail 
with a hearth-brush that was heedlessly put away with hot 
coals in it. The flame spread instantly to some sheets of 
music that lay on a piano which stood in the recess, and the 
instrument (with other articles of furniture) was destroyed 
before the fire could be extinguished ; the house being only 
baved by the prompt arrival of the engines. 

All chimneys in which wood is burnt, should be swept 
regularly once a month. In country places where chimney- 
sweepers are not to be procured, it is customary to clear the 
chimneys of the soot, by setting them on fire with a bundle of 
straw, choosing a rainy-day for the purpose, or one in which 
the roof is covered with snow. If delayed too long, so as to 
allow a great accumulation of soot, there is danger that in this 
mode of cleaning, the fury of the fire may burst the chimney. 

In an open fire-place, it is a good practice every morning 
before the fire is made up, to take a long broom and putting it 
lip the chimney as far as it will go, to sweep down all the soot 
that is within reach. This should be done regularly in a 
kitchen chimney, there being always danger of flakes of soot 
falling down into the cooking vessels. 

Previous to making a fire for the first time in the seascn. 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 125 

burn in the hearth a quantity of waste paper or straw. This, 
by producing a current of warm air in the cold chimney, will 
open the draught, and prevent the new fire from smoking. 



CLOSE STOVES. — Of these, there are various sorts, and 
each sort has its partizans. The most common for burning 
coal, are those generally called cannon stoves, from their cylin- 
drical form. Those of sheet iron are the lowest in price, and 
heat a room very rapidly. They are excellent where only a 
temporary or occasional fire is wanted. Small ones may be 
had in Philadelphia for four or five dollars. For a constant 
fire, these are somewhat troublesome, as without frequent 
replenishing^ they retain the heat but a short time. Stoves of 
the same form, but made of cast iron, continue hot much longer ; 
and, though of higher price are cheapest in the end, as being 
the most durable. 

Wherever a close stove is used, the fire place should be 
closed up with a tight-fitting chimney board, having a round 
hole cut in it to admit the stove-pipe into the chimney. This 
hole must be well edged with a broad binding of sheet iron or 
tin, nailed on both sides of the board, to prevent its catching 
f.re from the heat of the pipe ; an accident that will certainly 
liappen if this precaution is not attended to. The pipe should 
be taken down every week, carried into the yard, and thoroughly 
cleaned out. 

If there is no fire-place in the room, a hole must be cut in 

the chimney wall to admit the pipe ; or a pane may be taken 

out of one of the windows, and replaced with a square of tin, 

having a hole in the centre. This last method, however, is 

liable to the inconvenience of not drawing well when the wind 

is high, the smoke being then blown back, for which the only 

remedy is to have a moveable double elbow or joint at the very 

11* 



Ig6 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

extremity of tne pipe. A large sheet of iron should always 
be closely nailed down under and around the stove, to prevent 
the floor from catching fire or scorching by falling coals, or by 
the heat of the stove feet. 

If you have a close stove on tbe hearth of a nujsery, let it 
be well guarded by a very high fender of a semi-circular form, 
"the ends hooking to loops> or staples driven into the wall. 
These fenders may be made of thick iron rods, and will prevent 
accidents from children running or falling against the stove. 
If of close small wire, they will look the handsomer ; but may 
exclude too much of the heat, and are also less lasting than 
when of iron rods. 

On the top of every close stove, (whether the fire is of coal 
or wood,) a large pan of water should be constantly kept; re- 
plenishing it as the water evaporates. These pans are best of 
block tin : if of earthen or china, the heat will split them. 
The moisture produced by this vessel of water, will temper the 
dryness of the atmosphere caused by the close heat of the 
stove, which may otherwise occasion vertigo, faintness, or other 
inconveniences. 

For each stove there should^be a shovel, poker, and tongs : 
likewise a coal-scuttle always at hand ; for if an anthracite 
fire is allowed to get too low, it cannot be revived without 
clearing out the whole contents of the stove, and resorting to 
fresh kindlings, &c. Have also, hanging by a loop in a con- 
venient place, a small calico or worsted holder, with which to 
guard your fingers from burning, when opening the door ol 
the stove. 

Of the numerous varieties of cooking stoves, and of the 
mode of managing each, it is impossible to attempt a descrip- 
tion. They all find favour in some kitchens, and lose it in 
others, according to the taste and habits of tho family and 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 127 

the cooks. We have heard of the very same apparatus succeed- 
ing admirably in one house, and failing entirely in another. 
• We can, however, speak with certainty of the excellence of 
a wood stove of the common ten-plate form, but having at tlie 
far end of the top or upper plate, beyond the oven, a round 
hole to which a g-riddle is fitted as a cover. There is also 
another cover, but the cook may stand upright beside the 
stove, and bake on this griddle batter cakes or any thing of the 
kind. When the griddle is no longer wanted, it may be re- 
placed, or the hole covered by a large block tin boiler, with a 
steamer on the top. On the hearth of the stove is a place 
where a gridiron for broiling can be set. Any thing may 
be balked in the oven; and in a tin roaster, placed beside the 
stove when hot, allowing it a longer time than when before an 
open fire, meat or poultry can be roasted. With this stove 
there is never the slightest difficulty, and no cook ever objects 
to it, it being simple, manageable, and sure. The price (in- 
cluding boiler and griddle) is generally from fourteen to twenty 
dollars, according to its size. 



CHARCOAL — ^Anthracite cannot be ignited without the 
assistance of charcoal or of chips of dry wood. For this pur- 
pose charcoal is much the best, and should always be used in 
preference, when you live in a place where it can be easily 
procured. If you are obliged to buy it in rainy weather, let 
some of it for immediate use be dried before the fire, as if damp 
It will not kindle well. Chips of wood cannot at all times be 
conveniently obtained, and the frequent use of them will cause 
soot to collect in the chimney ; which soot, if allowed to accu 
mulate, may catch fire. 

Servants should not be allowed to waste the charcoal : it is 
only necessary to use it once a day, at the first kindling of the 



128 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

fire ; and for that purpose three or four pieces are amply suffi- 
cient. Two barrels of charcoal, if properly managed, will be 
quite enough for each ton of coal. « 

Charcoal is extremely useful to burn in portable furnaces for 
making sweetmeats, and cooking various little things. In 
French cooking it is of great importance. 

* The best portable furnaces are those of cast iron, being not 
liable to crack, like those of clay or earthen, and not easily 
overset; also in price they are but a trifle higher, while in 
convenience and durability they are of tenfold superiority. 
With a charcoal furnace sweetmeats may be made out of doors, 
in the yard, or on the hearth of a chamber. Wherever charcoal 
is burnt, the fresh air should be freely admitted, by keeping a 
window-sash raised all the time ; the vapour being so delete- 
rious, in a room closely shut up, as to cause certain death by 
suffocation. The fumes of charcoal in a close apartment have 
frequently proved fatal in a few minutes. The first sensation 
is that of slight, but increasing weakness, followed by a giddi- 
ness in the head and flush in the face and neck. The person 
thus attacked should immediately escape into the open air, or 
he will be seized with a drowsiness, followed by a sense of 
suflfocation ; and if speedy relief is not obtained, death will 
soon ensue. The usual remedies are, to throw cold water on 
the head, and to take a quantity of blood immediately : also 
applying mustard or hartshorn to the soles of the feet. 

In places where much charcoal is burnt, it is well to keep a 
large tub or bucket constantly filled with lime-water, which 
will rapidly absorb the gas. The lime-water must be renewed 
as soon as it becomes impure. This impurity will be known 
by the carbonate of lime falling to the bottom. 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 12D 

ANTHRACITE COAL.—In buying anthracite coal, (as in 
most other things,) that of the best quality is eventually the 
cheapest. It goes further, lasts longer, gives out more heat, 
with less waste from slate-stones and ashes, and leaves better 
cinders when it is extinguished ; and good cinders may always 
be turned to account by burning them over again. 

Endeavour to obtain coal that is hard, bright, and clean-look- 
ing. When it appears soft, porous, of a rough, dull, and dirty 
surface, and covered with a profusion of damp black dust, it is 
never good, and will give out comparatively little heat, being 
always choked with its own ashes ; also the cinders will be 
found so flaky and slaty as to be nearly useless. 

The most convenient size for coal is that which is callsd the 
broken and screened; it making the best and handsomest fires. 
The egg coal and nut coal (which is small) may be used in 
close stoves, and in spring and autumfT, when much heat is not 
required. 

Three tons of the best anthracite will generally (if well ma- 
naged) be found sufficient for one fire during the season ; at 
least in the middle States. In the northern and eastern section 
of the Union, where the winters arc longer and colder, a larger 
allowance will be requisite. 

The ashes of anthracite is of no use in making lye or soap. 
When the ash-hole is full, a cart should be obtained to remove 
and carry away its contents. 



ANTHRACITE COAL GRATES.— The best anthracite 
coal grates for draught and comfort, are those that are set with 
only one aperture. Some grates are set with holes or openings 
to convey the dust and ashes up the chimney or down into the 
-rellar. By this means the draught is interrupted or divided, 
ind the result is generally a dull, cheerless fire, and a difficulty 



130 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

in kindling it. There should be no aperture except that at th© 
top, which in width ought not to exceed two inches and a half; 
if wider, it will not draw so well. Broad shallow grates do not 
heat the room as thoroughly as those that are deep. The 
deeper the body of coal, the more perfectly it ignites, and the 
more warmth it produces. The grate should not hang too low, 
or its heat will soon burn out the pan beneath. The bars 
should be rather straight than curved or bowed out, and not too 
close together. Beads or knobs between the lower bars are 
extremely inconvenient when it is necessary to use the poker, 
to which they are such an impediment that they render it almost 
impossible to clear out the ashes properly. Fortunately for 
those who had to clean them, brass ornaments on coal grates 
are now entirely exploded. They are only found on old-fash- 
ioned grates, and then it is well to paint them black. The best 
grates are of cast iron j*being more durable and retaining the 
heat longer than those of sheet iron. 

Every coal-grate should be furnished with a poker, shovel,^ 
and tongs, (a blower of course,) a hearth-brush, and also a coal- 
scuttle. A block tin bucket or deep iron pan for carrying away 
the ashes will also be found indispensable, unless an old coal- 
scuttle is used for this purpose. Ashes should never be put 
into a wooden vessel, as there may be heat enough remaining 
to set it on fire. There are ash-buckets of iron, with a strainer 
or iron sieve fitting in about halfway up, for sifting the cinders 
at once. 

Care should be taken that the blower does not warp, or burn 
into holes, by being kept on too long. It should not stand in 
tne yard, as the damp will certainly rust it. When taken off 
the grate, it will do no injury if placed at once against the 
wall in the nearest passage or entry. A blower-holder of cloth 
OT calico should he kept always in a convenient place, to 



FUEL, FIRE S, E T C. 131 

prevent the handle of tlie hot blower from burning the hand. 
For want of a proper holder, we have known a newspaper or a 
handkerchief caught up to remove a very hot blower; and the 
consequence was that the paper took fire, or the handkerchief 
was irreparably scorched. The best and least inflammable 
holders are made of folds of old flannel, covered with woollen 
cloth, sewed round the edges, and slightly quilted or stitched 
through. 

A large coarse thick cloth of canvas, tow, woollen, or of some 
very strong fabric, should be provided for the servant to lay 
down in front of the grate before he makes the fire. This will 
greatly assist in keeping the carpet clean, and on it he should 
place his scuttle and other apparatus. The cloth should have 
a stout, heavy binding all round, to make it lie smoothly and 
"keep its place. 

We have seen in some houses the hearth-rug turned wrong 
side up to prevent the colours from fading from the heat of the 
fire. This is not a good practice, as (independent of its very 
bad appearance) the colours will be much more injured by the 
dust and ashes that will unavoidably get under the rug, and be 
thus ground into the nap of its right side. 

The dross or crust that collects at the back of the grate 
should be every morning scraped off with the tongs or poker ; 
otherwise it will accumulate so as to become very inconvenient, 
and very difficult to remove. 

The dryness of atmosphere caused by the heat of anthracite, 
is to many persons a source of great inconvenience. It may 
easily be remedied by having a long deep narrow vessel of 
sheet iron, lined with block tin, made to fit exactly the shelf 
or top of the grate, and kept constantly filled with water. It 
should be three inches or more in height, and may be painted 
black on the outside. 



• 132 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

If you find the room very warm, and wish to increase the 
evaporation of the water, you may do so by plunging into it 
a red-hot poker. 

The utensil generally called in England a footman, is very 
convenient to hang in front of a coal grate, for the purpose of 
heating any little thing that maybe required in an eating-room, 
nursery, or chamber. There are common ones made of iron, and 
a better sort of brass. They hook on to the bars of the grate, 
and can be drawn out by a handle to the requisite distance 
from the fire. Smoothing irons may be heated, a saucepan 
boiled, water warmed, bread toasted, apples roasted, and a tea, 
or coffee-pot, or a small kettle kept hot on a footman. The 
expense of this article is a trifle, and the convenience great. 
"We highly recommend it. 



COAL GRATE FIRES.—Previous to making the fire, 
remove the hearth-rug, and spread down in front of the grate a 
large coarse cloth kept for the purpose. 

The fire having been entirely extinguished over night, (or at 
least long enough for the grate to become quite cold,) empty it 
completely of all its contents ; first raking out the ashes ^y 
inserting the poker underneath, between the bottom bars. Then 
take out all the cinders, either with the tongs or with your 
hands : the latter is the easiest way. and the most expeditious, 
and your hands may be defended by a pair of coarse thick 
gloves. As you take out the cinders, lay them aside for use : 
you need not, of course, save those that prove to be pieces of 
slate or stone, or that are only soft spungy flakes. If the coal 
is of the best kind, very few bad cinders will be found amon 
t. If the weather is extremely cold, it will be well when the 
grate is empty, to burn in it an old newspaper or some straw ; 
this will heat the chill air of the chimney, and the warm cur 



FUEL, FiRiiS, ETC. 133 

rent will, by improving the draught, cause the fire to ignite the 
sooner. 

When the grate is entirely emptied, sweep it out clean with 
a hearth-brush ; and once a week at least, wash it out with a 
wet cloth. Remove the portable iron hearth from underneath, 
and empty the ashes into an iron pan, or an old scuttle brought 
for the purpose. * 

To huild the /re.— First put into the bottom a very slight 
layer of fresh hard coal from the scuttle, selecting pieces about 
half the size of an ftgg, or rather smaller; this will prevent the 
charcoal from falling through as it burns. Lay upon this 
flooring of anthracite, a large shovel-full of bright live coals 
from the kitchen fire. They should be selected with the tongs, 
(so as to be free from ashes,) and carried in an iron fire-pan 
with a lid, to prevent their spilling on the way. No house 
should be without these fire-pans. 

Having put on the live coals or kindlers, place over them 
three or four good pieces of charcoal, laying their points or 
ends together, so as to form a sort of pyramid. At the sides 
and back of this charcoal put a few rather small pieces, of an- 
thracite; and when that has ignited, fill up the grate, placing 
hard coal in front and disposing of the cinders behind. Place 
the largest pieces of anthracite on the top, and heap it up as 
high as the back wall of the grate will allow. Afterwards, 
put on the blower, (taking care that it fits in closely at the 
bottom,) and let it remain till all the fuel in the grate is lighted, 
and till blazes issue from between the coals at the top. 

Let the servant that makes the fire employ himself about the 
room or in its vicinity, till it is time to remove the blower, lest 
he should forget and leave it up too long; in which case it 
will become red-hot, and bend and warp, or nerhaps break; 
also the inten.se heat will burn and bend the bars of the grate. 

12 



134 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

and exhaust the coal too soon. If red spots begin to appeal 
on the blower, it should be taken down immediately. When 
on removing the blower, the mass of coal is found to have 
sunk in consequence of the charcoal burning down, some more 
large pieces of anthracite should be laid on the top. It may- 
then be left to itself, till the usual hour for replenishing it; 
but the fire should not be permitted to sink below the second 
bar ; whenever it does so, it begins to deaden. If an anthracite 
fire is allowed to get very low, it is extremely difficult to 
revive; and there is generally no other way than to empty the 
grate completely, and to kindle an entirely new fire, as in the 
morning. 

In winter, an anthracite fire should be replenished at least 
every six hours ; and if the weather is very cold, and the grate 
not large, it will require still more frequent attention. Gene- 
rally, with a grate of good size it will be sufficient (the fire 
having been made up early in the morning) to clear out the 
ashes, and put on fresh coal about eleven o'clock ; then at six 
in the afternoon. Whenever the fire is to be replenished, first 
put up the blower to screen the mantel-piece and surrounding 
furniture from the dust and ashes, and then rake underneath with 
the poker till all is cleared out but the live coals. Then, with 
the poker, work the cinders about over the holes of the upper 
hearth, to let the ashes fall through into the under one ; and 
rake between all the bars, so as to let down the burning coals, 
and prevent hollows and large vacancies in the body of the 
fire. Next, take off the blower, and put on the fresh coal. If 
you have cinders, throw them on behind the hard coal, as they 
disfigure the fire when placed in front. In putting on fresh 
coal, slope it upwards from the top bar, so as to form a hilJ 
behind, against the back wall. If the grate and coal are botb 
good, and the fire has not been allowed to get too low, you nee^ 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 135 

not, on replenishing it, put up the blower; as, after a while, it 
will burn very well without it : and by using the biower too 
often, or too long, you exhaust the coal, and diminish 'ts heat. 

Let the hearth be swept every time that the fire is touched. 
An ashy hearth is a slovenly and disagreeable object, giving an 
uncomfortable aspect to the whole room. 

In keeping up a good coal fire, regularity is indispensable. 
Even if it does not look low, it should always be punctually 
replenished at the stated hours ; and the servant should be 
made to understand, that it is his business to do so, without 
farther telling ; otherwise, there is much chance of its being 
frequently neglected and forgotten. Except at the time for 
regularly replenishing it, there is rarely any necessity of touch- 
ing an anthracite fire. Injudicious poking and stirring will 
put it out, instead of improving it. 

To extinguish it completely at night, take the tongs, and lift 
off the largest and best coals, one at a time, and lay them 
in the hearth. Then rake up on each side, the live coals that 
remain in the body of the grate; so as to form a deep hollow 
in the middle, like a valley between two hills. By this last pro- 
cess, (which is best eflfected with the point of the shut tongs,) 
the most glowing fire will gradually blacken and die out in a 
quarter of an hour ; and the grate will become quite cold ; so 
that in the morning, it can be conveniently emptied, previous 
to building the new fire. 

If you wish a good fire in your chamber very early in the 
morning, let it be extinguished in the above manner about 
seven in the evening. About ten, or when all the cinders are 
cold, let a servant clear out the grate completely, and build up 
the morning fire, as before directed ; leaving the blower and the 
scuttle in the room. If the grate is good, and the draught as 
t should be, the whole of the fuel may be laid on at once, even 



136 THE HOUSE ROOK. 

to piling on the fresh coal at the top. Some waste paper or 
shavings should be put in with the charcoal. At daylight, the 
occupant of the chamber can light the fire himself, by applying 
a bit of paper to the flame of the night-lamp, or with a lucifer 
match. Then, putting up the blower, he may return to bed; 
and remain there till the fire is in successful progress ; wliich 
will be in a very short time ; and on removing the blower, he 
will have a warm room for washing and dressing himself. 

The practice that prevails in many families of never allow- 
ing their coal fires to be extinguished during the whole winter, 
is not a good one. If the object is to save charcoal, we think 
it will be found, on calculation, that the additional anthracite 
required to keep up the fire all night, will more than balance 
the expense of fresh kindling every morning ; and besides a per- 
petual fire is almost perpetually dull and ashy. Also, the unre- 
mitting heat produces cock-roaches, and other disgusting in- 
sects ; and in summer, if a cc-al-fire is kept up all night in the 
kitchen, it will add greatly tc the general warmth of the house"; 
making the chambers in the ricinity of the kitchen unwhole- 
some and almost intolerable. Another, and very palpable objec 
tion is, that unless a coal-grate or stove is completely cleared out 
once a day, by removing every particle of cinders and ashes, 
and sweeping out the whole ha&ide with a brush, no poking or 
raking that can be done, will prevent the fire from looking all 
day, choked and ashy at the bottom, and there will be very 
little glow even at the top, unless for a short time directly after 
the removal of the blower; and of course the fire will not 
throw out half as much heat as when burning clear and brightly 
all through. The end of the poker should be curved or hooked. 

Coal, to burn well in a grate, should not be smaller than an 
figgi 01 larger than a moderate-sized orange. A skilfal fire- 
maker will fit in the large and small pieces, so as to ."rjpsnrae 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 137 

Doth to advantage. We have known this done by servants 
who took great pride in the excellence of their parlour fires ; 
for instance, a coloured man, who always assorted his coal, 
and brought it up separately in two scuttles, reserving his 
finest pieces for the front of the fire, and calling them his 
facers. 

Coal should not be thrown on from the scuttle. It is best 
to put on the pieces with the hand, or with the tongs. There 
are small iron tongs made for the purpose. There should be a 
coal-scuttle for every fire-place. 

Use the cinders as you go along, and let every grate consume 
its own cinders, which may be freed from the ashes by working 
them about with the poker or tongs on the upper or perforated 
hearth. It will not then be necessary to carry them out to be 
sifted ; and the servants will not then have a chance of throw- 
ing them away to avoid the trouble of sifting. In some fami- 
lies, however, where the servants can be depended on, it is the 
custom (and a very good one) to have the cinders taken into the 
yard and washed in an old bucket, pouring on water and then 
draining it oflf. This makes them look black, and causes 
them to bum better. 

When the heat of an anthracite fire is too great, (for instance, 
late in the spring or early in the autumn,) it can be diminisned 
without extinguishing, by taking the tongs or poker and press- 
ing down hard the coals on the top ; or by taking off a few of 
the largest pieces ; or by throwing on, towards the back of the 
grate, a small quantity of the fine powdered coal-dust, com- 
monly called slack. Many persons, to diminish the heat, have 
a thick paste of ashes and water prepared in the cellar, and 
spread with a shovel over the top of the grate-fire. It forms a 
crust, under which the fire will burn dimly all day. 

In making a fire for the first time in the season, there is 

12* 



138 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

mostly a difficulty from the coldness of the chimnev. This 
may always be remedied, and the draught opened, by filling 
the grate jvith old newspapers or other waste paper, (as before 
mentioned,) and setting them on fire ; or, if more convenient, 
you may make a blaze with a few handfuls of straw or shavings. 

Anthracite fires, if managed exactly according to the preced- 
ing directions, will be found more comfortable, more economi- 
cal, handsomer in appearance, and in every respect more satis- 
factory than if conducted in any other manner. This we know 
by experience. 

When the practice is persisted in of keeping up the fire all 
night, the bottom should be raked and fresh coal put on the 
last thing before going to bed. Some persons have the scuttle 
left in the room, that they may replenish the grate at any time 
in the night. Early in the morning, it should be well raked 
with the poker, to clear out as much of the ashes as possible, 
and then filled up to the top with fresh coal. Afterwards put 
up the blower, and let it remain till all is well ignited. If, in 
the morning, the fire that has been burning all night is found 
very dull and low, it will be difficult to revive it without putting 
on some bits of charcoal or small wood, and letting them burn 
a while before the hard coal is added. 

Never at any time put on fresh coal without first raking out 
iJie bottom of the grate and between the lower bars with the 
poker. You may, during the day, dispose of the ashes by 
raising the upper part of the iron hearth, and letting them fall 
down into the under part below. Then replace the upper or 
perforated hearth evenly, and sweep it clean. 

Upon no occasion (whether the fire is of wood or coal) 
should the hearth be allowed to remain dirty or disfigured with 
ashes. It will give a slovenly and miserable look even to the 
most elegantly furnished apartment, while a clean, well-swept 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 139 

hearth imparts an air of cleanness, neatness, and gentility to a 
room of very moderate pretensions. An ever-dirty hearth, and- 
a grate always choked with cinders and ashes, may be taken as 
almost infallible evidence of bad housekeeping. 



COAL STOVE FIRES.— To make a good new fire in a 
close coal stove, begin by completely clearing out the pan or 
place that holds the fuel, leaving no remains of cinders or ashes. 
Put at the bottom a slight layer of small fresh coal, and then 
a shovelful of clear, bright, glowing coals from the kitchen, 
seeing that there is no ashes among them. On these live coals 
you may lay three or four pieces of charcoal and some good 
cinders, and then fill up the pan or pot with fresh hard coal, 
heaping it on the top. The coal for a stove should be the egg 
or nut size. Shut the large door of the stove, (leaving the little 
one open,) and you will soon have a fine fire. 

After a while it will sink, in consequence of the charcoal 
having burned down : then directly put some more hard coal 
on tlie top ; and be careful that the fire never gets too low, lest 
it be found impossible to revive it without clearing out the 
whole, and building it entirely anew. 

If you cannot obtain charcoal, you may kindle with pieces 
of dry wood split small, and laid on the hot coals with a hand- 
ful of shavings or waste paper. 

You may somewhat diminish the heat by closing the little 
door, and thereby lessening the strength of the draught ; and 
you may lessen it still more (and indeed gradually extinguish 
the fire) by setting the large door wide open. You may, if 
expedient, put out the fire, almost immediately, by parting it 
on the top with the poker or tongs, so as to leave a deep hollow 
in the centre. 

In a small room, it is well to surroundHhree sides of a close 



140 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Stove with one of the thick block-tin screens made for the pur- 
pose. It will prevent the heat from injuring the wall or the 
furniture. 

A stove, as well as a grate, should be thoroughly cleared 
out at least once in twenty-four hours. What is called a per- 
petual fire, or such as many persons boast of continuing unex- 
tinguished all winter, is wasteful of coal, and is never so bright 
and strong as that which is entirely renewed every day, without 
any remains of the old fire. If you wish a fine fire early in the 
morning, let the stove be entirely emptied over-night, and the 
new fuel laid or arranged in the manner described, the whole 
Deing built at once, putting some shavings or w^aste paper with 
the charcoal. Then, with a match lighted at a night lamp, 
you may ignite it at dawn, or whenever you please ; and you 
will have an excellent fire and a warm room to wash and dress 
in, while the water in the tin pan on the top will have gradu- 
ally become hot enough to use for any needful purpose. 

If, however, you prefer keeping up the fire all night, having 
raked the ashes well from the bottom, fill up with fresh coal 
before you go to bed, and have the scuttle at hand to replenish 
it, if you think proper. In the morning, rake it well out at the 
bottom, and add fresh coal. If you find the fire very low and 
dull, put on some charcoal, or chips, before filling it up with 
the anthracite. 

Be very careful that the joints of the stove-pipe fit tightly. 
Should they happen to open or gape apart in the night, when 
there is fire in the stove, the vapour escaping from the coal 
may have the most deleterious effect (even to suffocation) on 
persons sleeping in a close chamber. 

On such occasions, when life is not entirely extinct, and a 
physician cannot be procured immediately, animation may be 
restored hy promptly resorting to the following remedies 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC 141 

Open instantly the doors and windows, and allow the air to 
pass freely over the face of the patient ; but keep his body 
covered with the bed-clothes, under which let his skin be 
rubbed hard, first with the hand, and then with warm cloths as 
soon as they can be procured. Make him swallow as soon as 
possible a half-tea-spoonful of cayenne pepper, mixed in a tea 
cup of boiling water, and administered whenever it is cool 
enough to be taken without scalding the mouth. As soon as 
he can eat, he should have food seasoned with plenty of pepper 
and mustard. If he is made to inhale oxygen gas, he will 
recover the sooner. 

The pipe of a coal-stove should be taken down about once 
a fortnight, for the purpose of clearing out the ashes that have 
been drawn up into it; and which, if allowed to remain, will 
impede the draught, and prevent the fire from burning well. 

The coal for a close stove should be small. For a largo 
stove, the egg coal ; for a small one, the nut. 



BITUMINOUS OR ENGLISH COAL.— Coal found in 
the western section of the United States, is generally bitumi- 
nous; so also is that imported from England. It- is much 
softer than the anthracite, emits more smoke, produces more 
dust and ashes, and the heat is far less intense, though the blazb 
is very bright. The grates used for burning it should be set 
open, with the whole space vacant from the bars upwards, 
instead of filling it up with fire brick, and leaving only a nar- 
low slip or aperture, as for anthracite. To kindle the fire in 
the morning, having cleared out the grate, spread a few good 
cinders over the bottom ; then bring some hot coals from the 
kitchen, and lay on them a few slips of pine wood : afterwards 
fill up the grate with fresh coal from the scuttle j and blow with 
a pair of bellows till the fire is well ignited. 



142 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Or you may kindle it without live coals, by applying lo the 
pine sticks lighted brimstone matches. 

A fire of bituminous coal must be replenished much more 
frequently than one of anthracite. When it looks dull and 
has burnt hollow, stir it underneath with the poker, ana then 
have some fresh coal put on. If you wish to keep it burning 
slowly all night, throw on the top a suJEficient quantity of slack 
or coal-powder from the cellar. 

To extinguish it at night, take oiF the best coals, and then 
rake out all the rest with the poker. If necessary, throw on 
some water. For this coal use a straight poker. 

In English houses, the servant that kindles the kitchen fire 
is always provided with a tinder-box of tin, having on the lid 
a socket which holds a piece of candle. This lid is made to 
come off; and in the cavity of the box beneath, is kept a quan- 
tity of tinder made from rags ; a flint, and a piece of steel with 
a handle to it; also a few sulphur matches. Before daylight 
in a winter morning, the fire-maker (having taken the tinder- 
box up stairs with her) strikes out with the flint and steel a 
few sparks, which, catching the tinder, enable her to ignite a 
match, by which she lights the candle ; knd with the candle 
she goes down and kindles the fire, by applying lighted matches 
to some little slips of wood, which she places at the bottom of 
the grate. 

In this manner a fire of bituminous coal may be made, if 
wanted, at any time in the night. 



COKE. — This is the state in which the coal used in manu- 
facturing gas is left, after the bituminous matter has been 
extracted. It remains in large, light, porous, black lumps, and 
IS a very convenient and economical fuel for spring and autumn, 
and for rooms where only a moderate heat is required. It has 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 143 

less vapour than any other coal, (being not oppressive even to 
delicate lungs,) and can be ignited sooner ; making a bright, 
jriowing, and cheerful fire, so similar in appearance to that of 
anthracite, that few persons (unless they are told) can perceive 
any visible difference. Though excellent for spring and autumn, 
(as we know from experience,) and for the few chilly wet days 
that occasionally occur in summer, we do not recommend coke 
in those sections of the Union where the climate is severe : as to 
keep up a large steady coke-fire in extremely cold weather, all 
day and all the evening, will require the grate to be replenished 
with as much as it can hold six or seven times, at least: and 
still more frequently in a close stove. For the first early 
autumn or late spring fires, one grate full of coke will be suffi- 
cient for the day ; or for the evening, (if made on at dusk,) 
heating the room so well at first, that it continues comfortable 
long after the fire has died out. In families where an open 
grate or range for coal, is used in the kitchen, coke has been 
found very good fuel to cook with in the summer, causing much 
less heat than anthracite in the lower part of the house ; and 
it is so soon ignited in the morning, that its incapability 
cf burning all night without replenishing, is little or no 
disadvantage. 

In Philadelphia (where coke is very cheap) it can be 
obtained by application at the office of the Gas Company in 
the Franklin Institute, paying always in advance. It is well 
to order a cart-load at once, as the price for* hauling from the 
gas-works is the same for ten bushels as for fifty. 

To make a coke fire, let the grate be cleared completely, 
raking out all remains of the last fire, and sweeping it clean 
with a hearth brush. Then cover the bottom of the grate with 
a slight layer of small bits of coke, (cinders will do,) ana 
■ place thereon a shovel full of bright, clear, live coals lor 



144 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

kindling. On these coals lay three or four pieces of charcoal, 
(a very little will suffice,) or a few pieces of dry kindling wood, 
split small. If you use wood instead of charcoal, it is w^ell to 
add a few shavings or some waste-paper. Then fill up the grate 
at once with coke, and put up the blower, fitting it closely in at 
the bottom. In five minutes you may remove the blower, 
without any risk of the fire not igniting well ; but if you leave 
it up eight or ten minutes, you will, on removing it, find the 
wiiole of the coke in a bright glow, and the room will be very 
warm immediatel3\ 

With coke, as with anthracite, (unless you intend it to die 
out,) you must take care not to let the fire get too 16w in the 
grate. In replenishing it, after filling up the grate with fresh 
coke, rake between the bars, and then put on the blower for a 
few moments, while you rake well at the bottom, till the ashes 
is thoroughly expelled : then empty the iron hearth into the 
ash-pan beneath, and remove the blower, as the fire will no 
longer require it. Your poker should have a hooked end. 

To extinguish the fire, lift off with the tongs any large pieces 
of coke that inay still be burning; lay them on the hearth, 
where they will die out immediately, and save them for cinders 
to burn next day. Next, with the tongs or poker beat down 
the mass of hot coals, and then part them in the centre, leaving 
a deep hollow down to the bottom of the grate ; or, if they are 
but few, work and stir them about a little, and they will soon 
go out. 

In winter, if you have both coke and anthracite, it is a good 
way to make the earliest or morning fire of coke, (as it ignites 
SO soon,) and then, when it has burnt down below the upper 
bar, replenish with anthracite, continuing the hard coal durino 
the day and evening. 

On an iion footman or shelf, hooked on to the grate. 



« 
FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 145 

you may ^oon boil a tea-kettle or sauce-pan before a coke 
fire 



TO HEAT A BRICK OVEN.— Ovens should i»e heated 

witn lin^ht dry wood. Cliesnut is best; but if it cannot be 

procured, you may substitute pine. It must be split up small ; 

not a stick being left thicker than your wrist. Faggots, or 

bundles of dry slender branches gathered up in the woods, are 

used for ovens when nothing else can be obtained. The oven 

wood should be all ready the evening before it is wanted for 

baking, that the oven may be heated early. In putting in the 

wood, place it near the mouth or door of the oven, (for there 

the draught is strongest,) and lay the sticks across each other 

in a square pile, as children do when they play at building 

houses. Put in sufficient oven wood at once ; for instance, a 

large arm-full or more. The door of the oven must be left 

open all the time the fire is burning. Kindle the wood with 

some live coals and waste-paper, or shavings. After it has 

been burning well for about a quarter of an hour, with a long 

stick or pole push the fire farther back towards the centre of 

the oven, and stir and quicken it occasionally. When .the fire 

is reduced entirely to a bed of coals, and when the coals look 

dull and whitish, as if dying out, remove them from the oven 

with a large shovel or scraper. Next, take along stick, to one 

end of which is fastened a coarse wet cloth, (a wet mop is still 

better,) and with it wipe out the floor of the oven. Then let it 

rest for about five minutes. To try the heat, throw in a piece 

of paper, and if it burns instantly, the oven' is too hot, and you 

must wait a little longer. A thermometer, held for a minute 

within the oven, is a good regulator; but, after all, experience 

is the best. The things to be baked should be quite ready by 

the time the oven is hot. You must have a peel, or long-han 

13 



146 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

died, broad, wooden shovel, to slip under them when you set 
them in or take them out, that the heat may not burn your 
hands. As soon as they are in, shut closely the door of the 
oven. Pies and large loaf-cakes (except gingerbread, which 
burns easily) require a hotter oven than bread. It is best to 
bake the bread by itself; for it may be injured by letting in 
the cold air, if you open the oven door to put in or take out the 
other things. Once only will be sufficient to look at the bread 
while it is baking. If the loaves contain a quarter of a peck 
of flour each, they will require two hours at least to bake. 
During that time, it will be only necessary to look at them 
once, (which should be at the end of the first hour,) and then 
turn them round, that they may bake evenly ; otherwise those 
parts of them that are nearest to the j&re-place at the side of the 
oven, will be done too much in proportion to the rest. It is 
best always to bake bread in iron pans, sprinkled with flour, 
or slightly buttered. When they are taken out of the oven, 
wrap each loaf in a clean, coarse, wet towel, and stand them 
up on end to cool gradually. This will prevent the crust from 
becoming too hard. 

If you are baking little cakes or tarts, look in at them in ten 
minutes after they are put into the oven, to see if they are 
nearly done. A large plum-cake or fruit cake will require 
six or seven hours to bake ; and it should not be taken out till 
the oven has grown quite cold. Indeed it will be the better 
for staying in all night, keeping the oven closed. If a fruit 
cake cools too fast after baking, it will become doughy and 
heavy. Keep it covered with a cloth till quite cold. 

The floor of an oven is best of tile, it being smoother than brick. 



CHIMNEYS ON FIRE.— When you have reason to sup- 
pose that a chimney is dirty, keep the fire low, as a large blazo 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 147 

will be very likely to ignite the soot. Should it, nevertheless, 
take fire, you will be immediately apprized of it by the loud 
roaring noise, and the falling down of flakes of burning soot. If 
there is no water in the room, have a bucket-full brought imme- 
diately, so as to put out all the fire in the hearth; and while 
waiting for the water, throw on all the salt that may be at hand ; 
or, what will be still better, a handful of flour of sulphur, as soon 
aa you can obtain it. The sulphur will frequently extinguish 
even the fire in the chimney, if it has not yet become large. As 
long as it is burning, take care to keep all the doors and windows 
tightly shut, and hold up closely before the fire-place a blanket 
or some other woollen article, for instance, a table-cover or 
hearth-rug, so as to exclude the air. 

If the roof is dry, let some persons go out at the trap-door, 
carrying with them buckets of water to pour all round, so as 
to prevent its catching from the sparks that issue from the 
chimney. 

In Philadelphia, any person that allows his chimney to get 
on fire, is liable to a fine of five dollars ; it being one of the 
regulations of the city, that all chimneys where wood is burnt 
shall be swept once a month. 



ACCIDENTS FROM FIRE.— Do not allow yourself to 
contract the inexcusable habit of reading in bed at night. It 
never fails to injure the eyes; but there is a still greater evil 
attending it, the probability of your insensibly falling asleep, 
and the light catching the bed clothes, and consequently, 
endangering your own life, and perhaps setting the house on 
fire. The head of the family should see that no one of its 
members ever indulges in this senseless and sometimes fatal 
practice. 

In escaping from a room on fire, creep or crawl along with 



148 THE HOUSE BOOK. 



your face close to the ground, as near the floor the air is purest, 
and there is less danger of bein^ suffocated with the smoke 
Peisons frequently are saved by letting themselves down f?om 
the window, by means of a knotted rope, or by sliding down 
a sheet secured at one of the upper corners. . 

Children may be saved from the flames of a burning house, 
by means of large, coarse woollen bags, with a strong rope 
attached to each : these bags should be kept constantly in the 
sleeping-rooms, and in case of fire, a child may be put into 
each, (leaving only a small breathing place open at the top,) 
and then lowered dow^n from the window. 

When a house is on fire, beds should be placed under the 
wdndows, to receive the persons who are compelled to save 
themselves by leaping out. 

Children, in winter, should be dressed entirely in clothes of 
woollen or worsted, as these are less liable to catch fire and 
blaze, than linen or cotton. Even their aprons should be of 
worsted ; for instance, bombazet or merino. Small children 
should never be left alone in a room in which there is fire ; and 
their sleeping apartments should, on no account, have the doors 
locked. Every winter, we have at least one instance of a little 
child perishing horribly, by the mother leaving it alone, tied in 
a chair, and placed near the fire, while she is engaged in a 
distant part of the house, or perhaps gone out on some errand. 
This is a practice too dangerous for any circumstances to 
excuse. So is that of the parents going out in the evening, 
locking up the house, and leaving all the rest of the family in 
bed. Such parents, on coming home, may find their house 
on fire, andHheir children perishing in the flames. 

If the dress of a female catches fire when she is alone, if she 
cannot extinguish it by squeezing it in her hands, let her im- 
mediately ring tbtj oeil violently, or knock on the floor; but, 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 149 

if possible, avoid opening the door to run out, as admitting the 
air, will increase the flame. She should throw herself directly 
on the floor, and endeavour to smother the fire by wrapping 
the hearth-rug closely round her, or by tearing up a part of the 
carpet, if there is no woollen cloth at hand. 

In some families a large piece of baize is kept in every room, 
for the purpose of extinguishing accidental fire ; and the prac- 
tice is a good one. In a chamber, a blanket can be immediately 
snatched from the bed, and used for this purpose. A man may 
smother out fire in the dress of a female, by taking off his cloth 
coat, and wrapping it round her. 

Children should be early taught how to squeeze or press out 
a spark, when it happens to reach any part of their dress, and 
also that running out into the air will cause it to blaze imme- 
diately. They should also learn, that it is the nature of flame 
to ascend or run upwards. 

The first application to a burn should be sweet oil, putting 
it on immediately, till other remedies can be prepared. Cotton 
should never be applied. It increases the pain and inflammation. 
For a slight burn or scald, some raw potato scraped fine, and 
tied on the place, (renewing it at intervals,) is an excellent 
remedy, and a very agreeable one to the sufferer. 

It is extremely diflScult to get a horse out of a stable that is 
on fire. It is said, that the best way is to accoutre him, as 
speedily as possible, in the harness or saddle he is accustomed 
to wearing, and when he feels it on him, he will think he ought 
to go ; at the same time blindfolding him, by bandaging his 
eyes, or throwing a blanket, a coat, ox something of the sort 
entirely over his head. Some years since one of the principal 
livery stables in Philadelphia took fire, and all the horses (we 
believe fifty in number) were saved by blindfolding them. 
Unless their eyes are covered, so that they cannot see 

13* 



150 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

the fire, they will run into it in the wildness of their 
terror. 



BURN SALVE. — Simmer together till quite melted (stir- 
ring them well) a piece of Burgundy pitch the size of a hick- 
ory-nut, a piece of yellow bees-wax of equal size, and a gill 
of sweet oil. When cool, spread some of the salve on a soft 
linen rag, and fasten it on the burn or scald ; which, while 
the salve is preparing should be kept wet with sweet oil. 
Lime-water, procured from the druggist's and beaten up with 
sweet oil, is an excellent ointment for bums. 



TO EXTRACT A SPARK OF COAL FROM THE 
EYE. — In travelling on rail-roads, particles of cinder from the 
chimjiey of the locomotive frequently fly into the eyes of pas- 
sengers, causing intolerable pain, and, if not very soon extracted, 
producing inflammation. A trifling spark may sometimes be 
expelled from the eye, by pulling down with your fingers the 
lower eyelid, and at the same moment blowing your nose very 
hard. If this does not succeed, at the first stopping-place 
procure a bristle from a sweeping-brush, and tie its two ends 
together with a thread, so as to form a loop. Then let some 
one who has a steady hand insert this loop under your eyelid, 
and pass it carefully all round the eye. The loop will catch 
the particle of cinder and bring it out. If not successful at the 
first attempt, persist in it, and it will, in almost all cases, 
eventually extract the spark. 

Another way (but a less easy one) is, after wrapping the corner 
a soft cambric handkerchief round the head of a pin, to let some 
efficient person (a medical man, if one is at hand) insertit care- 
tully beneath the eyelid, and witli it sweep all round the inside of 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 151 

the eye. This (repeating it, if necessairy) will most probably 
bring out the bit of cinder. 

An eye-stone (to be obtained at the druggist's) will also 
remove troublesome substances. 

If the eye inflames afterwards, it will be well to have the 
lower part of the eyelid punctured on the inside with a lancet, 
so as to draw blood from it ; and to have a small blister imme- 
diately applied behind the ear, for the purpose of exciting a 
counter-irritation. Also to take a dose of cooling medicine 
It is best, however, to have recourse as soon as possible to a 
physician. 

A particle of iron or steel (if not too deeply imbedded in 
the eye) may be removed from the surface by the applica- 
tion of a powerful magnet. This we know to have been tried 
with success. 



FIRE-SCREENS. — Where there is a grate or an open 
stove, fire-screens are indispensable to comfort, and no room 
should be without one. The best are those with three slides. 
They are tall, upright frames of mahogany or other handsome 
wood, with heavy feet, moving on castors. The three compart- 
ments are square or rather oblong frames, covered with fluted 
or radiated silk. Two of these compartments are made to slide 
out from the sides of the principal frame, so as to add to the 
breadth of the screen when necessary : the third one slides 
upward to give it additional height. If the covers are of silk 
or damask, the colour should correspond with those of the 
curtains and other furniture. 

The most usual parlour screens are upright frames of ma- 
hogany, standing (as all fire screens should) on heavy substan 
lial feet, to prevent accidents from oversetting. The screen 
part, which extends about halfway down, is a square frame 



1 52 THE H(?USE BOOK. 

covered with silk, fluted or radiated ; and along its base is a 
shelf broad enough to hold a book or a few sewing imple- 
ments. 

Instead of silk, fire-screens for libraries and chambers may 
be covered with varnished maps, pictures, comic drawings or 
prints, riddles, conundrums, &c. 

A plain, cheap fire-screen for a bed-room, nursery, or kitchen, 
may be made of common wood, (any carpenter will do it,) and 
you can furnish it yourself with a cover of green moreen, or 
any other stuff that is dark and durable. It must be a tall 
upright frame, about a yard and a half high and a yard in width, 
made exactly like a large towel-horse, with ends or knobs 
rising above the top bar. There should be another cross bar 
about halfway down, to strengthen the frame. The cover 
should be a double piece of stuff, made to slip over the frame, 
and of sufUcient length to descend to the floor, sewed at the 
sides about halfway down ; the remainder hemmed and left 
open, so as to form two large flaps, which can be fastened up 
at pleasure with strings of ribbon or worsted ferret, or with 
loops and buttons, when you wish the warmth of the fire to 
reach your limbs. Again ; if, in sitting very near the grate, 
you desire to guard your dress from the danger of being dis- 
coloured by the heat, you can let down the two flaps, and have 
your whole person protected by it. When not wanted as a 
fire-screen, you may remove the cover, and use the frame as a 
clothes-horse for drying muslins and other small articles. 

It is always best to stand the fire-screen in a sideway posi- 
tion. It can be so placed as to shelter you effectually from the 
heat, without being itself exposed to the injury it may sustain 
from standing with its full front in face of the fire. 

Hand-screens should not be forgotten in furnishing a room. 
They should be large enough to shade the face completely, and 



FUEL, FIRES, ETC. 153 

may be made very handsome by a young lady of good taste and 
■well skilled in drawing. The usual foundation for such hand- 
screens is very thick pasteboard or very thin wood. The 
covers are of fine paper, ornamented with drawings, and pasted 
on very smoothly, the edge being finished with a border or 
binding of gold paper. We have seen beautiful fire-screens, 
having in the centre an excellent oval drawing in Indian ink, 
encircled with a wreath of flowers done in colours, w^hich 
looked the brighter from being contrasted with the darkness of 
the centre-piece. There are very amusing' hand-scrreens, 
covered with a variety of comic drawings, or with conundrums, 
&c., handsomely and legibly written. All paper screens 
should be coated with transparent varnish, otherwise they will 
soon become soiled and discoloured. 

Large fe^ither fans are good substitutes for hand-screens. 



CHAIR-SCREENS. — To make a very good chair-screen, 
get a large sheet of the thick stiff pasteboard used by bookbind- 
ers and trunk-makers, (of whom it can be obtained,) and with 
a knife pare off the edges and trim it to the required size. It 
should ascend sufficiently above the back of the chair to screen 
the neck and shoulders of the sitter. Make a double case (like 
a pillow-case) of dark chintz or moreen, open at one end, to 
slip over the pasteboard. At each of the lower corners, sew a 
strong string of stout ribbon or worsted tape, and place tw^o 
other strings about half a yard farther up, on the side edges or 
seams of the cover. When the cover is finished, slip it over 
the pasteboard, and sew it along the bottom edge, to keep the 
board from falling out. When ready for use tie it by the 
strings to the outside of the back of the chair. Three or 
four of these screens will be found very convenient in dinino-- 
rooms, to screen from the heat the backs of those persons who 



154 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

sit on the side of the table next the fire. Also, they will save 
the chairs from being scorched and blistered. 

You may have slighter chair-screens, by simply making 
cases of thick moreen, without pasteboard; leaving the lower 
end open to slip down over the chair-back. 



A NURSERY STOVE-FENCE.— When there is a stove 
in a nursery, there is much danger of children receiving severe 
burns by running or falling against it. This danger may be 
effectually obviated (as we have seen) by getting a carpenter to 
make a square railing or fence to surround the stove ; with a 
gate which the nurse can open and enter when she wishes to 
do any thing to the fire. To prevent a very small child from 
creeping under the fence, or a larger one from climbing over 
it, the space at the bottom, between the lower bars, should be 
closely filled in with lattice- work. 

It is well to have similar gates at the top of the staircase, 
in the nursery part of the house. 



If a young child is provided with a large substantial rag-doll 
to take to bed with him, he will seldom be unwilling to go to 
bed, even when wide awake. He will pet and talk to the 
rag-baby till he goes quietly to sleep. These are the best 
and most satisfactory dolls for small children. 



155 



L I Ci H i S, &c 

LAMP OIL. — The best lamp oil is that which is clear and 
neany colourless, like water. None but^ the winter-strained 
oil should be used in cold weather. Thick, dark-coloured oil 
burns badly, (particularly if it is old,) and there is no economy 
in trying to use it. Unless you require a great deal every 
night, it is well not to get more than two or three gallons at a 
time, as it spoils by keeping. Oil that has been kept several 
, months will frequently not burn at all. When that is found to 
be the case, it is best to empty it all out, clean thoroughly the 
can or jug that has contained it, and re-fill it with good 
fresh oil. 

There are large oil-vessels with cocks, and keys belonging 
to them. 



CLEANING AN OIL-CAN.— Having thoroughly emptied 
it of the dregs of the oil, fasten a rag to the end of a stick, and 
with it scrub or wipe round the inside and bottom, till you 
have got out all the sediment. Next, wash out the can, by 
pouring in a lather of brown soap and warm water, rubbed 
about with a clean rag on the stick ; and having rinsed it well 
with cold water, turn it up to drain. 

Clean the outside of the tin with whiting wet with water, 
and rubbed bright with a rag. Then fill it with clear fresh oil. 



ANOTHER WAY. — After emptying the oil-can, and remov- 
tng the sediment from the bottom, as above, by means of a rag 



156 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

fastened to a stick, fill the can with warm water, in which a 
large table-spoonful of pearl-ash has been melted. Put on the 
cover, and let it stand all night. Then rinse it out with two 
or three warm waters, and put it to drain. Then fill it anew. 

If the inside of an oil-can is allowed to collect sediment 
without frequent cleaning out, it will spoil the fresh oil that is 
put in, and cause it to burn badly. 

Always keep the oil-can on an old waiter, or something o( 
the sort, to receive whatever grease may come from it 



ASTRAL LAMPS. — In buying astral lamps for the table, 
choose the shades of plain gi'ound glass, as they give the clear- 
est and steadiest light, and are best for the eyesj particularly 
when employed in reading, writing, or needlework. Lamp 
shades painted in bright colours are now" considered in very 
bad taste, and are nearly exploded in genteel houses. The 
fashion of having the shades decorated with flowers or othei 
devices, cut on the glass and left transparent, is also on the 
decline: and most fortunately, as it is a very bad one for lamps 
that are intended for useful rather than ornamental purposes ; 
though it may do well enough for mantel-lamps and lustres. 
The transparent flowering breaks and distracts the light, and 
its scattered brightness glitters in the eyes, and is eventually 
very pernicious to them, though it may not seem so at first ; 
also the irregularity with which it falls renders the light much 
less easy for reading or sewing than the soft, stead}'^, uniform 
rays from a shade of plain ground glass. For lighting up pic- 
tuTes, flowered shades should on no account be used, as they 
will destroy the cflTect of the painting. 

To buy table astral lamps of inferior size, is by no means 
advisable. They only give light in proportion to their magni- 
tude; and when they are small and low, the effort of seeing by 



LIGHTS, ETC. 157 

them is so teazing to the optic nerve, that the eyes, however 
strong originally, seldom fail to become weak in consequence. 
It is also false economy, to diminish the light, by keeping the 
lamp low, for the purpose of saving a little oil ; as many have 
discovered, when too late; after their eyes were irreparably 
injured by this foolish practice. 



MANAGEMENT OF ASTRAL LAMPS— Use none but 
the best oil, as that of inferior price and quality will be found 
more inconvenient than economical. Except in warm weather, 
the winter strained oil is the only sort that is fit for lamps, as 
it is not liable to chill ; and when chilled, no oil will burn. It 
should look clear and limpid like water. Do not buy too much 
oil at once, as it frequently spoils by keeping, so as to become 
useless. For iilling the lamps, have a covered tin pot or can 
with a long spout turned upvAards at the point, lest it should 
drip after pouring. Keep a distinct oil-can for the parlour lamp. 
Choose firm light-woven wicks, fine in texture, and with even 
edges. Coarse, flimsy, loosely-woven wicks, absorb more oil 
than the flame will consume ; and consequently, the cup or 
reservoir being too full of oil, the air-holes are choked, and the 
flame blazes out at the top of the glass chimney, so as to en- 
danger its cracking. Keep the wicks in a place where they 
will be clean and dry ; and always have in the house some extra 
lamp-glasses or chimneys, to be ready in case of accidents. 
They also should be perfectly dry. 

No one should trim lamps with damp fingers. 

It is well to have a small basket for the purpose of contain- 
ing whatever is necessary for trimming the lamp. Across the 
top of the basket, (which should have side handles,) let there 
be fastened two tight strings of thick twine, to support the 
shade er globe of the lamp when you take it off. The lamp 



158 THE HOUSE 13O0K. 

scissors should be very sharp, or it will be impossible to tiim 
the wick properly. 

A lamp that is nig^htly in use should be trimmed and 
replenished regularly every morning", otherwise there will be 
no certainty in its burning, and it will go out unexpectedly at 
any time in the evening, leaving the room in darkness. After 
you have removed the shade and the glass chimney, raise the 
wick by turning the screw towards the right hand, and cut off 
with the lamp-scissors, or nip off with your thumb and finger 
the edge of the wuck that has been burning the night before ; 
but do not trim it too closely, or you will find it difficult to 
light again. It is sufficient, barely to cut off the rim of the 
brown crust. When you find that the wick is reduced by 
burning, to only about an inch and a half in length, it is time 
to take it out and put in a new one. In winter, a new wick 
will be required once a week ; in the short summer evenings, 
it will of course last longer. Always do the wick before the 
oil. Clean out every morning, the cup or candlestick part that 
catches the droppings. Wipe out with a clean soft cloth, (for 
instance, an old napkin, or old silk handkerchief,) the glass 
chimney, and the shade ; and dust well their outsides, and also 
every part of the lamp. Then replace it on the table to be 
ready for evening. 

When you light it, remove the shade and the chimney, and 
ignite the wick with a paper match, a supply of which should 
always be kept in some convenient place. They should be 
made of waste writing paper cut into long slips, and folded, 
and creased very hard. If of newspaper or any other that is 
not stiff enough, the flame will run along them so fast as to 
endanger your fingers. As soon ^ the wick is ignited all round. 
put on the chimney and the shade, turn the screw to the right 
and raise the licrht at once to the heisfht at which it i» 



LIGHTS, ETC. 159 

continue through the evexung. The practice of keeping the 
wick low for a considerable time after it is lighted, is a bad 
one, as by doing so a crust forms round it which dims the light 
for the whole evening. Take care, however, not to raise the 
light so high as for tlie flame to blaze out at the top of the chim- 
ney, as that will certainly crack the glass, unless it is let down 
immediately by turning the screw to the left. When you 
wish to extinguish the lamp entirely, turn the screw to the left 
as far as it will go. 

When you are about lighting an astral lamp, see that your 
fingers have no wet or damp on them. 

Once a week the chimney and shade of the lamp should be 
washed out well with luke-warm soap-suds, then rinsed in 
clean water, and wiped and dried thoroughly. 

The lamp should be taken to pieces, and undergo a complete 
cleaning once a month. To clean it: after it is all taken apart, 
empty the reservoir over the kitchen sink, throwing out what- 
ever oil is in it. Have ready, in a pitcher, a pint of warm 
water, in which has been dissolved a large table-spoonful of 
pearl-ash. Pour this into the reservoir, and let it stand about 
three hours, shaking it round frequently. Then pour it out, 
and rinse the reservoir several times with clean w^arm water ; 
for if any of the pearl-ash remains, it will form with the oil a 
sort of soap, and prevent its burning. Drain the reservoir tho- 
roughly, by turning it upside down, and letting it stand awhile 
on a plate. Take care that the pearl-ash touches no part of 
the outside of the lamp. 

If the frame and stand of the lamp is plated, clean it but sel- 
dom, and then use powdered whiting of the finest kind or pre- 
pared chalk, made into a paste with whiskey, and rubbed on 
with a soft flannel. Then finish with a buckskin, and brush 
out the rough or embossed parts with a clean tooth-brush. 



160 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

If the stand or frame of the lamp is of bronze, clean it by 
merely nibbing it well with a soft dry cloth. The same if it 
is gilt. 

When every part has been thoroughly cleaned, replenish it 
with fresh oil and fresh wick, and put the lamp together. 

When all your lamps (mantel, &c.) have been in use for 
company, they should next morning be emptied completely of 
oil and wIwK, and washed out with luke-warra pearl-ash and 
water. If the oil and wick are left in them, verdigrease will 
accumulate, which, when they are lighted again, will cause 
them to smoke instead of burn. The oil that is taken from 
these lamps should be put into a can and saved to use for the 
kitchen. On the day of your next company, (and not till then,) 
replenish them anew. Unless a lamp is used nightly, no oil 
and wick should be left in it, even for a single day. 



ENTRY LAMPS. — Entry lamps should be trimmed every 
morning, and lighted as soon as the sun has set; as at that time 
the hall or entry is always so dark, that no one can find their 
way through it without difficulty. Where the drawing-room 
IS up stairs, there should be a second lamp, to light the stair- 
case and the upper passage. 

After the large entry lamp is extinguished, on the family 
going to bed, a small brass lamp should be kept burning all 
night, on a table in the passage, or landing-place of the lower 
stairs, that a light may always be at hand, in case of any per- 
son being taken suddenly ill. 

In houses that stand somewhat back from the street, with a 
little garden in front, it is well (particularly when visiters are 
expected) to place a lamp on a shelf fixed for the purpose, in 
the fan-light over the front door. This will light the guests 
on their way from the gate to the door-step, and is a great con- 



^ LIGHTS, ETC. IGl 

venience on a dark or wet night. Most of the best houses have 
permanent lamps at the foot of the door-sleps. 

Hall lamps of stained glass are very elegant, their colours 
throwino- a beautiful tint on the walls and floors 



LAMP-RUGS.— These are small square rugs, to prevent 
the feet of the lamps from marking the table. The cheapest 
are made of oil-cloth, lined underneath with green baize, and 
bordered with a very thick worsted fringe, which may be 
bought, by the yard, at the trimming stores. The handsomest 
lamp-rugs are worked on canvas with crewels of different 
colours; the centre done in cross-stitch or queen-stitch, and the 
edo-e decorated with a standing border, or wreath of flowers 
ingeniously made of crewel. Some have a high close border 
all rd^d, imitating velvetor plush. This is made by working 
the crewel over a mesh, or straight slip of wood, (like a ruler,) 
about an inch and a half broad, so as to form successive rows 
of long loops, with an interval of two or three threads of canvas 
between each row. When all is done, the loops are cut by 
running scissors through tHem ; and then the surface is evenly 
sheared, so as to resemble very thick velvet. The needles used 
for this work should be large and blunt-pointed, like bodkins, 
and the crewel should be put into them three or four double, in 
very long needlefuls. Hearth-rugs worked all over in this 
velvet stitch, on very coarse canvas, are extremely rich and 
beautiful, and of the greatest durability. 

In doing worsted work, you will find very convenient a 
receptacle for the needles, as you must have a separate needle 
for every shade of the crewel. A very simple contrivance for 
-this purpose, is to take a gallicup, or something else that has 
a riJge round the top, and tie over it a bit of canvas. Keep 
this beside you to stick your needles in while at w«rk. 

1-1* 



162 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

CHAMBER LAMPS. — Small japanned lamps are the mo 
convenient for carrying up and down stairs, and for lighting to 
bed. They should be regularly replenished every morning, by 
unscrewing the top and filling them up with oil, first adding a 
new wick, if necessary. The wick, should be about a quartei 
of a yard in length ; and unless the lamp is kept burning all 
the evening, it will not require renewing for three or four days 
The wick is put in by drawing it through the socket, and 
should be pulled up at the top with a pin to a convenient 
height for lighting. The grocers sell it in balls. 

Every evening before dusk, as many of these bed-lamps as 
may be wanted by the members of the family, should be ranged 
on a japanned waiter, with a brass lamp of larger size burning 
in the middle, and a few paper matches placed on one side. 
The waiter of lamps should be kept on a small table (or on 
shelves connected by a frame) at the first landing-place of the 
stairs, or in a recess or retired part of the hall or entry below. 
By this convenient arrangement, every person' that wants a 
lamp can supply himself at once, without waiting to ring 
for a servant to bring one, and can light it conveniently without 
coming into the parlour for the purpose. Lighting a small one 
at an astral lamp requires more dexterity and more nerve than 
falls to the lot of many persons ; as, when the match is inserted 
into the glass chimney, the flame runs up instantly to the hand, 
and there is danger of dropping it on the carpet, before it can 
be carried to the hearth. All this difficulty is obviated by 
keeping a lamp-table in a place convenient to the parlour, with 
a lamp always burning, by which to light the small ones when- 
ever they are wanted. 

Tlie long or ball wick used for common lamps may be much 
improved by cutting it into pieces several yards long, steeping 
them in a cup of vinegar, then spreading them out to dry, and 



LIGHTS, ETC. 163 

when quite dry winding them on a card. The steeping .in 
vinegar will cause the wick to give a clearer and better light, 
and when blown out it is extinguished immediately, leaving 
no smoke or disasrreeable smell. 



KITCHEN LAMPS— Should be of brass or block tin, 
with broad bottoms like chamber candlesticks. They also 
should be kept clean and replenished every day. 



LANTERNS. — Every house should be provided with one 
or more lanterns to carry out of doors at night, or to take into 
a stable, barn, or any other place where an uncovered candle 
or lamp might be dangerous. 

Lanterns with glass sides are so easily cracked that we do 
not recommend them. They are much better when glazed 
with horn, or perforated all over with small holes. If they 
have lamps in them, care should be taken to trim and replenish 
these lamps daily, that the lantern may always be ready if 
wanted at night. It is best to get a lantern with a socket at 
the bottom, so that either a lamp or a piece of candle can be 
placed in it, as may be most convenient. The piece of candle 
must not be very long, or it will heat the top of the lantern so 
as to burn the fingers of the person that carries it. 

The small lamps used for placing in the sockets of lanterns 
are like those without bottoms or stands, that are made to place 
in broad kitchen candlesticks. 



FLOATING TAPERS.— To burn all night in a chamber 
no lights are so cheap and so convenient as floating tapers 
In travelling, it may be found (.f great advantage to put iv 
your trunk a small box of them containing also the float, oi 



164 THE HOUSE BOOK 

little apparatus of tin and cork, that supports them in the oil. 
When you stop for the night, ask for an old tea-cup or some- 
thing of the sort filled with lamp-oil, on the top of which place 
the float with a taper on it. Set the light in the chimney, and 
if you are incommoded by its beams, faint as they are, it is 
easy to accustom yourself to sleep with a silk handkerchief or 
a broad ribbon tied over your eyes. In the morning remember 
to take the float out of the cup, wipe it, and return it to the 
taper-box, that you may have it ready for the next night. The 
little tin pliers or tweezers, that come in the box, are used for 
taking the tapers off the float. 

The best floating tapers (as we have found) are those with 
wooden bottoms, iand of the smallest size. They come in 
boxes with a London mark. The box contains a little pair of 
pliers, a float, and tapers enough to burn every night for several 
months : the cost is generally but twenty-five cents, and no 
light consumes so small a quantity of oil. 

As it is not well to waste any thing, however cheap, we 
recommend, in families who find it necessary to economize 
in trifling expenses, that the wooden bottoms of the floating 
tapers shall not be thrown away in the morning after the light 
is extinguished. Let them be saved in an old- box kept at hand 
for the purpose, and when a box full is thus collected, they 
can be used over again by furnishing them with fresh wicks, 
made as follows : 

To renew Jloating tapers. — Having saved a sufficient quan- 
tity of old bottoms belonging to tapers that have been used, 
wipe them clean one by one, and spread them out on a sheet 
of coarse paper. Melt some white wax, and take some of the 
very finest or smallest white cotton cord, such as is scarcely 
thicker than a coarse thread. Having melted the wax, dip the 
cord into it while hot, so as to cover it completely with a coal* 



LIGHTS, ETC. 165 

ing of the liquid. Then dry it in the open air, and when quite 
dry and stiff, cut it into pieces of equal size about an inch in 
length, and put them through the holes of the old taper-bot- 
toms, leaving a little bit beneath or on the under side to be 
turned up, and pressed hard against the wood with your finger, 
so as to stick fast and secure the wick from slipping out. 
Put the tapers' into a box, and keep them for use. 



NIGHT LAMPS. — There are a variety of lamps for burn- 
ing all night in chambers ; an excellent custom, which fre- 
quently prevents much inconvenience, particularly in cases of 
sudden illness. In every house it is well to have a lamp 
burning the whole night, in at least one of the rooms. Many 
persons are unwilling to sleep in a lighted room, thinking that 
the sight of the objects all around will disturb them, and that 
none of the shaded lamps sufficiently obscure the light. To 
obviate this objection, we know of no better contrivance than 
a floating taper placed in a cup of oil, and shut up in a small 
dark lantern ; such as may be purchased at a tin-store for fifty 
or seventy-five cents. If there is a socket in the bottom of the 
lantern, it had best be taken out, that the oil-cup may set 
steadily on the floor. A little six-cent tin cup is the best thing 
to hold the oil; with which having filled it, place on the sur- 
face one of the cork-floats that come in the taper-boxes, and 
every night set a taper on the float. 

After the taper is settled in the centre of the cork float, ignite 
it by holding a lighted paper-match to its side ; place the cup 
of oil on the floor of the dark lantern, (which should set on the 
hearth,) and shut up the door. There will be a sufficient glim- 
mering through the air holes at the top, just to show where it 
is, and if at any time in the night you should want a larger 
portion of light, you can open the dcor of the lantern or slide 



166 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

up one of the tin shutters at the side. If you have occasion 
to light a candle or lamp from the floating taper, take the oil- 
cup out of the lantern and set it on a' small plate or saucer kept 
on the hearth for the purpose, and apply a paper match to it 
A supply of paper matches should be kept in every room. 

In the morning blow out the taper, and let the oil-cup be put 
away on the plate, for if lifted in the lantern' it may spill. 

If there is no chimney in the room, and the weather will not 
permit a window-sash to be raised, the vapour of any night 
light will be unwholesome to sleepers — therefore set it outside 
of the room-door on an old waiter. 

You may remove oil-grease from a hearth, by covering it 
immediately with thick hot ashes or with burning coals. When 
thus swept off, if the oil is not quite gone, spread some more 
hot ashes, or a little Wilmington clay, or fuller's earth. 



VERY CHEAP FLOATING TAPERS.— From a ball of 
common lamp-wick unwind a yard or two, of which you must 
take three threads. Have ready a piece of wax about the size 
of a large walnut, either common bees-wax, or the ends of 
wax candles heated a little and squeezed together into a solid 
lump. Take a tin cup or a small sauce-pan filled with water 
that is boiling hot. Throw into it the lump of wax, and when 
it is melted and floats on the top of the water, dip in the wick, 
curling it about in the melted wax. When the wick is suiFi- 
ciently coated, withdraw it, and hold it up to drain and con- 
geal; then lay it on a plate. When quite cold, cut it, with 
Bcissors, into bits about three-quarters of an inch in length, 
(not larger, or they may smoke,) and put them away in a box. 

For using these wicks you must have one of those large 
circular cork floats, that are covered all over the surface with 
hn to keep the cork from burning. They come in some of the 



LIGHTS, ETC. 16** 

/mported boxes of floating tapers. Put the wick through the 
small hole in the centre of the float, pressing or plastering the 
lower end against the under side of the cork, to prevent its 
slipping out through the bottom. Set this taper in a cup of the 
oest oil, and it will burn well all night. Next night put a 
fresh wipk into the float. 

This will be found the most economical of night lamps. 



CANDLES. — Candles improve by keeping for a few 
months ; those made in winter are the best. The most econo- 
mical as well as the most convenient plan, is to purchase them 
by the box, keeping them always in a cool dry place. 

If wax candles become discoloured or soiled, they may be 
restored, by rubbing them over with a clean flannel, slightly 
dipped in spirits of wine. 

Candles are sometimes troublesome to light. They will 
ignite instantly, if, when preparing them for the evening, you dip 
the top in spirits of wine, shortly before they are wanted. 

Light them always with a match, and do not hold them to 
the fire, as that will cause the tops to melt and drip. Always 
hold the match to the side of the wick, and not over the top. 

IT you find them too small for the candlesticks, wrap neatly 
round the bottom end a small piece of white paper, not allowing 
the paper to appear above the socket. Cut the wicks at once to 
a convenient length for lighting, (nearly close,) for if the wick is 
too long at the top, it will be very diflicult to ignite, and will 
also bend down, and set the candle to running. 

Glass receivers for the droppings of candles are very con 
venient, as well as ornamental. These are to be had at the 
principal china stores, and those that are of cut-glass are ex 
tremely elegant. They have a hole, through which the candle 
IS nassed when they are placed on the socket of the candlestick 



168 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

nr branch; and projecting all round in the form of leaves or 
shells, they receive the droppings of the wax or spermaceti. 

The pieces of candle that are left after burning an evening, 
should be laid in a tin box kept for the purpose, and used for 
bed-lights. Even if the pieces are tolerably long, they should 
not again be introduced as parlour lights, for in genteel families 
it is not customary to commence their evening with half-burnt 
candles. 



TO MAKE COMMON MOULD CANDLES.— For this 
purpose, you will require a set of tin moulds, containing tubes 
for four or six candles ; a strong straight stick about half a yard 
long, to go across the top ; and six or eight wooden pegs. You 
must have also, a ball of clean cotton candle-wick ; and a suffi- 
cient quantity of fresh raw mutton suet. Lamb fat must not be 
mixed with it, as it will cause the candles to run. 

To prepare the wicks, cut the cotton into double lengths, 
somewhat longer than the tin moulds. With a bodkin or some- 
thing of the sort, draw the wicks (double) through the moulds, 
leaving a loop at the top of each, and a piece coming out at the 
bottom. Run the stick through these loops at the top ; and 
secure the wicks where they come out at the bottom of the 
moulds, by wrapping them tightly round the wooden pegs, so 
as to prevent the tallow from running out when it is poured in. 

Cut up the suet; put it into a pot over the fire, and melt it 
thoroughly, skimming it well. Then strain it through a coarse 
cloth, into a mug with a spout, and pour it hot into, the moulds, 
filling them completely. Set them out of doors for the candles 
to cool ; or, what is still better, stand the moulds in a ves- 
sel of cold water; or put a little ice or snow round them if 
you are in haste to get them cold. Freezing will make them 
white. When you are certain that the tallow is quite cold and 



LIGHTS, ETC. 169 

liard, dip the moulds for a moment into warm water, to loosen 
the candles ; and then, pulling them upwar.ds by the cross stick 
at the top, draw them carefully out. If you draw them too 
soon, the wicks will come out and leave the tallow. Trim ofl' 
the ends of the wicks at the bottom and top, and the candles 
will be fit for use next evening. 

From a quarter of fine mutton, (including the leg and loin,) 
you may cut off sufficient fat or suet, to make four large mould 
candles. After they are made, (if the season is winter,) put 
them out of doors a night or two, that they may freeze white. 



SMALL WAX CANDLES — Or bougies, for sealing 
letters, may be made in a manner similar to the above. You 
must procure from a tinner a set of very small moulds. The 
wicks should be of fine smooth cotton, and thinner than for large 
candles* The wax (either white or coloured) you can obtain 
from the druggists. Melt it thoroughly. As it is already refined, 
it requires no straining previous to pouring it into the moulds. 



FINE HOME-MADE CANDLES.— For these the ingre- 
dients are in the following proportion : — Take ten ounces of 
fresh mutton fat or suet, a quarter of a pound of bleached white 
wax, a quarter of an ounce of camphor, and two ounces of 
alum. Cut or break up all these articles, and then melt them 
together; skimming them well. Have ready the wicks, 
(which should be prevLQUsly soaked in lime-water and salt- 
petre, and then thoroughly dried,) fix them in the moulds, and 
pour in the melted liquid, proceeding as in the receipt for com- 
mon mould candles. 

Candles made in this manner of the above material, are 

hard and durable, and will not run ; burning also with a very 

c»ear light. 

15 



170 THE HOUSF BOOK. 

DIP CANDLES. — These may be made ot the frefih suei 
or fat of either mutton or beef. Melt the tallow 5n an L'on pot, 
and then strain it into a deep pan or crock. Cut the wicks 
into single lengths, tying the upper end of each over a stick, 
or strong straight rod. Then dip them all together repeatedly 
into the pan of hot tallow, letting them cool awhile between 
each dipping. More and more tallow will stick to them every 
time. You may shape them evenly by filling an iron spoon with 
the tallow, and pouring it on the candles wherever they seem 
to want it most. When they are sufficiently large and thick, 
place them out of doors to harden. By keeping them out all 
night in cold weather, they will become white by freezing. 



RUSH LIGHTS.— Rush lights are much better than small 
dip candles, and in country places where the rushes grow, the 
expense of making them is almost nothing. 

When the meadow rushes have attained their full substance, 
but are still green, cut them and bring them home Trim off 
both ends of the rush, and leave the prime part, which should 
be about a foot and a half long. Then take off all the green 
skin that surrounds the pith, leaving only about one-fifth in a 
perpendicular strip running all the way up from bottom to top 
of the rush ; this strip is to hold the pith together all the way 
along. 

Have ready some melted tallow, and pour it liquid into a 
tall crock, or something as high as tlie length of the rushes. 
Then stand up the rushes in the grease, and let them soak in it 
thoroughly. Afterwards carry the crock into the yard, take 
out the rushes, and stand them up to cool against the wall or 
round a large tree. If allowed to freeze, they will be the 
whiter. 

Rush candles give a clear and pleasant light for a sick room. 



171 



FURNITURE, <kc. 



WALLS. — When the inside walls of a new houae are to be 
painted, the plastering is hard-finished, as it is called, to pre- 
pare them for it ; but the paint should not be put on for a year 
at least, (it would be better still to wait two years,) as before 
that time the plastering will not be in a state to receive it pro- 
perly. Painting the walls of rooms has now become very 
customary in new houses, and though more expensive at first, 
has advantages over papering that have brought it greatly into 
use ; being more durable, more easily cleaned when soiled, not 
loosening with the damp, and showing the furniture to greater 
advantage ; particularly the curtains, mirrors, and pictures. 
The ceiling, of course, should be white ; otherwise it will look 
low and gloomy, unless in a very splendid apartment, where 
it has been finely painted by an artist. With such a ceiling, 
it is usual to have the walls of the room painted in compart- 
ments, by the same hand. We have seen walls that were 
painted to imitate has reliefs of white marble ; the ceilings 
corresponding, and made to look as if coved or vaulted. 
Nothing can be in worse taste, tkan a painted ceiling with a 
papered wall, however expensive and elegant the paper. 

The colour of the walls should, on no account, resemble that 
of the furniture, but should rather present a decided conti'ast. 
To give a good effect to a room, there should, as in a picture, 
be a proper and harmonious distribution of light and dark tints 
throughout all the objects; everyone assisting to bring eacn 



172 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

other out. If there is nothing in the room either very dark or 
very light, the aspect of the whole will be indistinct and con- 
fused. If the furniture is as light-coloured as the walls, the 
whole will look weak and insipid. If both walls and furniture 
are dark, the effect will be heavy and gloomy ; and the rooras 
will light very badly at night. 

If you have fine pictures, (wil-paintings,) they will be worth 
taking every means of showing to advantage. Therefore, as 
bright colours around them would overpower their tints, let 
the walls be one uniform shade of a quiet and sober colour, 
something like pale gray, or stone colour, or pale olive ; but 
on no account any thing of a blue, red, green, or yellow tinge. 
On each side of all the principal pictures it is well to place a 
bracket supporting a lamp ; thus doing justice to the work of 
the artist, and assisting at the same time to light the room. 
Where there are no pictures, or only engravings, the walls may 
be painted of a very pale pink or blossom colour, an extremely 
delicate light green or blue, or of any buff or yellowish tint 
that will not interfere with the gilding of the mirror frames, &c. 
Generally, however, the safest colour to set off the furniture is 
one of the various tints of gray, including light stone-colour 
and dove-colour. The curtains, &c., should always be darker 
than the walls ; otherwise the effect will be dull and insipid, 
for want of contrast. 

Light blue looks extremely well for an entry and stair-case 
In choosing wall-paper, a»sroid that which has a variety ol 
colours or a large showy figure, as with such a paper no furni 
ture whatever can appear to its best advantage. The wall, 
whether painted or papered, should never be so conspicuous as 
to interfere with the objects of which it forms the background. 
The most tasteful papers, and those which best set off the gill 
frzunes, lamps, &;c., are those whose simple and unobtrusive 



FURNITURE, ETC. 173 

figure is formed by different tints of the same colour, as shaded 
grays, &c. All wall-papers should be very light. For a bor- 
dering round the top, let the predominant colour correspond 
with that of the curtains. A deep rich bordering gives a very 
handsome finish to a papered wall. 

Large figured papering makes a small room look still smaller. 
It is now much out of use 



CARPETS. — ^The carpets most used in America are the 
Saxony, Tournay, and Brussels, for the best apartments of 
handsomely furnished houses. Inferior to these are the Wilton, 
the Imperial, Kidderminster or Ingrain, Venetian, and Scotch; 
which last is the lowest in price, and worst in quality. Turkey 
carpets are now very rare. They are made square, all in one 
piece, and are extremely thick, heavy, and durable ; but their 
colours and patterns have no beauty, and they accumulate 
much dust, and are so cumbrous as to be extremely difficult 
to shake. 

Wilton carpets, though looking very handsomely when quite 
new, are less durable than any others ; the surface, notwith- 
standing its rich and velvet-like appearance, wearing off almost 
immediately ; every sweeping bringing away a portion of the 
wool. Persons who have had no experience of them can 
scarcely believe in how short a time a Wilton carpet or hearth- 
rug becomes thread-bare. 

Venetian or striped carpets are rarely used, except for stairs 
and passages. They (as well as Imperial and Ingrain carpets) 
are made to be put down with either side outwards. 

In buying a carpet, as in every thing else, those of best qua- 
lity are cheapest in the end. As it is extremely desirable that 
they should look clean as long as possible, avoid buying h 

carpet that has any white in it. Even a very small portion ot 

15* 



174 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

white interspersed through the pattern, will in a short time 
give a dirty appearance to the whole ; and certainly no carpet 
can be worse for use than one with a white ground. A carpet 
in which all the colours are light, never has a clean, bright 
effect, from the want of dark tints to contrast and set oflf the 
light ones. For a similar reason, carpets whose colours are 
all of what artists call middle tint, (neither dark nor light,) 
cannot fail to look dull and dingy, even when quite new. The 
caprices of fashion at times bring these ill-coloured carpets into 
vogue ; but in apartments where elegance is desirable, they 
always have a bad eJEfect. For a carpet to be really beautiful 
and in good taste, there should be, as in a picture, a judicious 
disposal of light and shadow, with a gradation of very bright 
arid of very dark tints ; some almost white, and others almost 
or quite black. The most truly chaste, rich, and elegant car- 
pets are those where the pattern is formed by one colour only, 
but arranged in every variety of shade. For instance, we have 
seen a Brussels carpet entirely red ; the pattern formed by 
shades or tints varying from the deepest crimson (almost a 
black) to the palest pink, almost a white. Also, one of green 
only, shaded from the darkest bottle-green, in some parts of 
the figure, to the lightest pea-green in others. Another, in 
which there was no colour but brown in all its various grada- 
tions, some of the shades being nearly black, others of a light 
buff. All these carpets had much the look of rich cut velvet 
The curtains, sofas, &c., of course, were of corresponding 
colours, and the effect of the whole was noble and elegant. 

Carpets that present a great variety of different and gaudy co- 
lours, are much less in demand than formerly. Two colours only, 
with the dark and light shades of each, will make a very hand- 
some carpet. A very light blue ground, with the figure of 
shaded crimson or purple, looks extremely well ; so does u 



FURNITURE, ETC. 175 

salmon-colour or buff ground, with a deep green figure; or a 
light yellow ground, with a shaded blue or purple figure. If 
you cannot obtain a hearth-rug that exactly corresponds with 
the carpet, get one entirely different; for a decided contrast 
looks better than a bad match. We have seen very hand- 
some hearth-rugs with a rich, black, velvet-looking ground, 
and the figure of shaded blue, or of various tints of yellow and 
orange. 

No carpet decidedly light-coloured throughout, has a good 
effect on the floor, or continues long to look clean. 

To preserve expensive carpets, it is well to completely cover 
the floor beneath them with drugget, or with coarse matting, 
which is a much better plan than to spread a layer of straw 
between the floor and the carpet ; the straw (besides the diffi- 
culty of spreading it perfectly smooth and even) accumulating 
much dust, that works up through the carpet. In buying a 
carpet, (having first measured the room, and calculated the 
exact quantity with the utmost accuracy,) it is well to get an 
additional yard or two to lay aside, that you may haveit ready 
in case of transferring the carpet to a larger apartment, or for 
the purpose of repairing any part that may be worn out or acci- 
dentally burnt. 

in fitting a carpet round the hearth, (unless there is border- 
ing,) do not cut the piece entirely out, but slit it down at each 
«ide, and having herring-boned the edges to prevent their ravel- 
ling, turn the flaps or slips inwards, underneath the carpet. 
Or you may turn it over, and tack it down, so as to be outside 
of the carpet, and under the hearth-rug. In making the carpet, 
the selvage edges must be held together (the figure exadly 
matching) so as barely to meet, but not to lie over each other. 
[t should be sewed on the wrong side, with the strong coxoured 
»hiead that is made for the purpose; taking up both edges at 



176 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

the- same time, but not so as to form a ridge. Each stitch must 
be taken behind or at the back of the last; passing the needle 
backwards and forwards, so as to point it alternately, first from 
your chest, and then towards it ; and taking* care not to hold 
one side of the selvage lower than the other, and not to draw 
your thread too tightly. If properly done, the seams will tread 
down perfectly flat. If you find, as you proceed, that you have 
puckered any part of the seam, pick it out, and do it better; as 
the slightest incorrectness in matching the pattern will disfigure 
the whole carpet. 

When the seams are completed, bind the edge all round with 
regular carpet-binding. 

A carpet-fork (to be obtained at the hardware stores) is an 
article of almost indispensable convenience for putting down 
carpets. It is to be stuck by a strong hand into the extremities 
of the carpet, after it is laid on the floor, so as to stretch it to 
the utmost, and make it fit tightly and evenly all over ; while 
another person pulls it straight and smooths it. The tack-nails 
must not be too small, or they will fail in securing the carpet 
firmly. It is well to have ready a sufficient number of little 
bits of soft buckskin or kid leather, to stick on each tack, close 
under the head, which may otherwise fray or injure the carpet. 

An extra^ breadth, tacked down in front of the sofa, will 
assist greatly in saving that part of the carpet from wearing 
out ; and by taking care to match the figure exactly, it can be 
so fixed as to escape notice. 

In an eating-room, the carpet should be protected from crumbs 
ftnd grease-droppings by a large woollen cloth kept for the 
purpose, and spread under the table and the chairs that surround 
it ; this cloth to be taken up after every meal, and shaken out 
of doors ; or else swept off carefully as it lies. It will also 
.equire occasional washing. A crumb-cloth may bt of diugget, 



FURNITURE, ETC. 



177 



finished round the edge with carpet-hinding ; of thick green 
baize ; or very strong, stout brown linen. 

Have always a regular tack-box, for the purpose of contain- 
ing new tacks, and receiving those that come out of the carpets 
when they are taken up. Your hammer should of course have 
a claw or cleft for getting out nails. Take care to leave no 
loose tacks lying about the floor ; as, if accidentally trodden 
en, they may cause great injury to the foot. 

In putting away carpets for the summer, after they have been 
well shaken and beaten, fold them up, and lay among the folds 
a large quantity of shreds of tobacco, interspersed with bits of 
camphor. Wrapping them up closely in linen sheets or table- 
cloths, will prove an additional security against the moths. 
The linen should be pinned or sewed tightly round them. 

To prevent the back of a sofa or a piano from rubbing against 
the wall, and defacing it with marks, prepare two narrow slats 
of heavy wood, about a foot long, and in thickness and breadth 
three or four inches. Cover them with carpeting of the same 
as that on the floor, and set them between the wash-board and 
the back feet of the sofa, which will thus be imperceptibly 
kept off from the wall. 

A large, heavy, square foot-cushion of coarse linen, stuflTed 
hard and firmly with hair, or with upholsterers' moss, and 
covered with carpeting, is a very usual and excellent accompa- 
niment to a rocking-chair. These cushions must be made so 
compact and substantial, that they cannot be moved unless 
intentionally. If lightly and loosely stuffed, (as you will 
generally find those that are offered for sale ready-made,) they 
will be continually shoving from under your feet, and kicking 
about the room. It is well always to bespeak them yourself, 
and have them made to order. There is no foot-stool so com- 
fortable and convenient as these heavy carpet-cus>iions, parti- 



J 78 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

cularly for chambers, sitting-rooms, and libraries. In hand- 
somely furnished parlours or drawing-rooms, the foot-stools are 
generally of mahogany, and covered with the same material as 
the sofas, &c. ; but they should always be heavy, so as not 
easily to overset. 

A large brick, covered with a piece of carpeting sewed 
smoothly all over it, is a simple but good contrivance for plac- 
ing against the door to keep it open when necessary. 



BED-ROOM CARPETS.— The carpet on a chamber will 
last and look well much longer if there are extra pieces to lay 
round the bed, taking them up and shaking them every day. 
In front of the washing-stand, and some distance beneath, it is 
well to have a breadth of oil-cloth nailed down upon the carpet, 
which will thus be saved from much injury by the splashing 
of water in emptying pitchers and basins. 

The custom of carpeting chambers all over in summer, though 
very general in American houses, is not a good one. It seems 
to add to the heat of the room, is very uncomfortable to the feet 
when the shoes and stockings are off, and causes an accumula- 
tion of dust which seldom fails to produce insects, and is in 
every respect a great sacrifice of convenience to show. Also, 
the carpet of course will not last half as long if in use all the 
year. In Engl and,, though the summers are much cooler than 
ours, the chamber floors, when not covered with matting or oil- 
cloth, have in the warm season no other carpets than three 
small ones that surround the bed, and are removed every morn- 
ing before the oed is made. These bed-side carpets come in 
sets, are frequently very elegant, and are manufactured expressly 
for the purpose, each having a border and middle-figure. We 
-cwuld wish they were universally introduced into America, 



FURNITUPE, ETC. 179 

nothing- being more easy to sweep and wash than me board 
floor, from which they can be removed in a minute. 

In families that are unwilling to go to the expense of matting 
for their chambers in summer, we recommend that the carpet 
shall nevertheless be taken up and put away before the warm 
season commences; substituting for the above-mentioned regu- 
lar bed-side carpets, three pieces of carpeting finished with 
worsted binding. 

STAIR-CARPETS.— Having the stairs painted white (a 
custom now greatly in use) will save much trouble in scrub- 
bing them. When painted, all they require is to be washed 
down occasionally with a flannel and cold water. The white 
paint on each side adds much to the effect of a handsome 
coloured stair-carpet. Observing the pains that are taken by 
many persons to prevent their wearing out, one might suppos*^ 
that a stair-carpet was of all articles of furniture the most costly. 
Some are guarded by a covering of brown linen, which almor* 
immediately becomes soiled, and after washing looks fit only to 
be cut up into kitchen towels. Others are covered all the wav 
up the middle with a strip of druggetj (which is rather better;) 
and others are disfigured by slips of oil-cloth nailed along the 
ledge of every step. All recourse to these unsightly metho(^& 
of saving a stair-carpet may be avoided, by simply purchasinc» 
at the beginning a yard and a half or two yards more of the 
carpeting than is actually required by the measure of you? 
stairs. In putting down the carpet, let this additional yard be 
folded smoothly under, either at the head or the foot of the 
stairs, or partly at both. Whenever the stair-carpet is faken 
up to be shaken and beaten, (which ought to be at least onctf 
a fortnight, as the dust accumulating underneath grinds and 
wears it out,) the position of the extra quantity at the end 



180 THE HOUSE BOOK 

should be changed By this means, the same part of the car 
peting will not be all the t^me wearing against the stairs; and 
jvhat was last upon the ledge, will be now agamst the flat part. 

We know that by this easy plan of buying at the beginning 
a small extra quantity, a good stair-carpet has been made to 
last ten years, without looking in the least amiss, and without 
the expense, trouble, and disfigurement of any covering or 
guard whatever. 

For a long or lofty staircase, it is best to get two additional 
yards of the carpeting. 

An entry or hall carpet will last much longer, for having a 
large mat at every door that opens into it. 

Immediately within the street door, the vestibule (if not of 
marble) should be covered with oil-cloth. Also, oil-cloth at the 
oack door, and at the head of the kitchen stairs. 

A stair-carpet should never be swept down with a long broom, 
but always with a short-handled brush, and a tin dust pan held 
closely under each step of the stairs as you proceed ; sweeping 
carefully the corners and between the bannisters, which should 
afterwards be wiped and nibbed with a cloth. If they are 
mahogany, they should occasionally be cleaned and polished 
in the same manner as mahogany furniture. 

After a stair-carpet is taken up to be beaten and shaken, the 
staircase should be swept very clean, preparatory to scrubbing* 
unless it is painted, and then, as before mentioned, it need only 
be washed down. Before sweeping, sprinkle the dust with water 



TO SWEEP CARPETS.—Previous to sweeping a carpet, 
pick up whatever shreds or clippings may be lying about, as it 
will be found easier to remove them at once, than to be pushing 
them from place to place, all over the room, while you are 
sweeping it. Then sprinkle the carpet with some damp tea- 



FURNITURE, ETC. 181 

leaves, which should always be saved for that purpose, by 
putting them into a jar, as soon as the tea-pot is emptied. The 
tea-leaves absorb the dust, and cause the carpet to look cleaner 
and brighter. Then go over the carpet with a corn broom 
briskly and lightly ; for hard heavy sweeping, will wear off 
the surface of the wool. Having first swept one half, remove 
all the chairs, &c., to that part of the room, and then go over 
the remainder; carefully sweeping under the sofas and other 
fixtures. When you have reached the door that opens into the 
entry, have ready there, a tin dust-pan with a short-handled 
brush ; collect in it all the sweepings of the carpet, and carry 
them away at once, to be thrown into the dust-hole. 

Drawing-room carpets of the finest and most costly descrip- 
tion, should be swept with a hair broom. For a very rich car- 
pet on a small apartment, a clean hearth-brush may be used. 



BEATING A CARPET.—When a carpet is taken up to 
be beaten, let it be carried out by two men into a large open 
place, (a green, for instance,) and well shaken. Then suspend 
it, wrong side out, on a stout line between two trees; or spread 
it over a fence. It should then be beaten very hard, by two or 
four men, (according to its size,) each person having a pliable 
stick or rattan, the end being strongly tied round with cloth so 
as to form a sort of knob, which, by blunting the sharpness of 
the blows, will prevent the carpet from being frayed, and the 
seams from splitting. After it has been well beaten on the 
wrong side, let it rest a while, till all the dust has blown away ; 
and then turn it on the right side, and give it a thorough beat- 
ing. When no more dust issues from it, lay the carpet on the 
green, fold it conveniently, and carry it back to the house. 

Before it is laid down again, examine it all over, anu dam 

or mend any parts that may need it; using for the purpose, 

16 



182 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

carpe -3'arn of the respective colours that compcise the figure ; 
a needle-full of each as it may be required. Also, if any ol 
the binding is loose, see to repair it. 

While the carpet is getting beaten, sprinkle the floor well 
to lay the dust; sweep it twice over, and scrub it. A carpet 
in constant use will require beating four times, if down the 
whole year. 

A half-worn carpet may be made to last longer, by ripping it 
apart, and transposing the breadths ; so as to make those that 
look thin and threadbare, go to that part of the room where they 
will be least observed. Or the best part may be taken out, and 
made into a carpet for a smaller room. 



TO WASH A CARPET.— Having first removed the 
grease-spots, by the repeated application of Wilmington clay, 
scraped to a powder, and made into a paste with a little water, 
and having taken out the stains with hartshorn diluted with 
water, take up the carpet, (saving all the tacks, by putting them 
into a box,) and have it carried to an open place, to be well 
shaken and beaten thoroughly with rattans, so as to get out 
the dust. Then let the floor of the room be swept and scrubbed. 
When the floor is dry, bring back the carpet, and nail it down 
again, stretching it well with a carpet-fork. Afterwards, let it be 
well scrubbed all over, a little at a time, with a long scrubbing 
brush, soap, and cold water in which has been mixed a tea- 
cup full or more of ox-gall, to preserve the colours. Then 
wash off the suds with plain cold water, and finish with a dry 
ing cloth, with which it must be made as dry as possible. 
Afterwards, raise the window sashes, lock the door, and do 
not let the room be used till the carpet is quite dry. 

An ingrain, imperial, or Brussels carpet washed in this mmi 
ner, will look very much like a new one. A Wilton carpet, 



FURNITURE, ETC. 183 

or any one in wliich the pile or wool is chiefly on the surface, 
cannot be scrubbed, or it will rub off, leaving the texture 
thread-bare. 

Those parts of the carpet that are mo£t soiled may be at any 
time scrubbed with a small hand-brush, when it is not consi- 
dered necessary to undertake a general washing of the whole ; 
always adding a little gall to the water to preserve the colours. 



OIL-CLOTHS OR PAINTED CARPETS.— In buying 
an oil-cloth for a floor, (and there is nothing so good for the 
hall or vestibule of a house,) endeavour to obtain one that was 
manufactured several years before ; as the longer it has been 
made previous to use, the better it will wear, from the paint 
becoming hard and durable. We have seen an English oil- 
cloth that, not having been put down 'till five years after it was 
imported, looked fresh and new, though it had been ten years 
in constant use on an entry floor. An oil-cloth that has been 
made within the year is scarcely worth buying, as the paint 
will be defaced in a very little time, it requiring a long while 
to season. 

An oil-cloth should never be scrubbed with a brush ; but, 
after beiiig first swept, it should be cleaned by washing with 
a large soft cloth and lukewarm or cold water. On no account 
use soap, or take water that is hot; as either of them will cer- 
tainly bring off" the paint. When it has dried, you may sponge 
it over with milk, which will brighten and preserve the colours ; 
and then wipe it with a soft dry cloth. 

For a kitchen floor that is not painted, there is no better 
covering than a coarse, stout, plain oil-cloth, unfigured, or all 
of one colour; for instance, dark red, blue, brown, olive, or 
ochre yellow. These common oil-cloths are almost universal 
in the English kitchens and laundries. They save the trouble 



184 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

of scrubbing the floor, it being only necessary to wash them 
off with a wet cloth ; and as they are impervious to damp, or 
to cold from open cracks between the boards, they make the 
kitchen as dry and warm as it could be rendered by a woollen 
carpet; and they have the advantage of collecting and retaining 
no dust or grease. It is surprising that these common oil-cloths 
have not been more generally introduced into American kitchens. 



STRAW MATTING.— In buying matting for a summer 
covering to the floors of your best apartments, do not get that 
which is checkered or figured with two colours. The eifect is 
never good, and it gives a common and ungenteel appearance 
to the rooms. If figured matting is used at all, it should only 
be in the inferior parts of the house. Thin, low-priced matting 
should also be avoided, as it cuts in streaks, and wears out so 
soon that it will be found in the end more expensive than that 
of the best quality. In fitting it to the floor, do not allow it to 
encroach on any part of the hearth ; as that will preclude the 
convenience of your having a fire, should the weather be unex- 
pectedly cold after the matting is put down, or before it is taken 
up for the season. In the middle and eastern sections of Ame- 
rica, it is best not to put down the matting, and arrange the 
rooms for summer, before the middle of June ; and it should 
be taken up and replaced with the carpets before the middle of 
September; certainly previous to the cold rains which we 
always expect about that season. If you have occasion for a 
fire while the matting is still down, lay the rug before the 
hearth. 

Straw matting should be washed but seldom, as much damp- 
ness is injurious to it. When it is necessary, however, to clean 
a floor mat, do it by washing with a large coarse cloth dipped 
In salt and water; and as you proceed, wiping it dry with an- 



FURNITURE, ETC. 185 

other coarse cloth. The salt will prevent the matting from 
turning yellow. 

If, in putting down a floor mat, you have occasion to join it 
across, ravel about an ineh at the end of each breadth, and tie 
or knot the lengthway threads two together. Then, turning 
all. these knotted threads underneath, lay one edge over the 
other of the pieces to be joined, and tack them down to the 
floor with a row of very small tacks ; each tack having a little 
bit of buckskin on it, to prevent the head of the nail from injur- 
ing or wearing out the mat. This ravelling the ends of the 
breadths, and knotting and turning under their threads, obviates 
the inconvenience of a thick conspicuous ridge if the edge 
of the matting is folded under in its full substance. 

Worsted binding is generally used for matting ; but as this 
is sometimes destroyed by moths, it is safer to secure the edge 
of the mat with the sufficiently durable binding of coloured 
linen or thick cotton broad tape, to be had of all colours at the 
carpet stores. 

Straw matting is not advisable for a stair-case. It wears 
out very soon against the ledges of the steps, and is, besides, 
too slippery to be safe for those that go up and down, particu- 
larly if they have to carry articles that may be broken. Oil- 
cloth is also too slippery. 

For a stair-case there is no better covering (at all seasons) 
than a good carpet. If the principal stair-case has been painted 
all over white, and the others dark gray, no covering will be 
needed in the summer season, at which time it is expected that 
all the furniture then in use shall be as li^ht and as little 
mconvenient as possible. 

• 

RAG CARPETS.— Though we highly disapprove of put- 
ting rag carpets on kitchen floors, in cons(!quence of the din 



186 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

und grease with which they soon become saturated, they may 
be advantageously used in an ironing-room ; a servants' sitting- 
room ; as bed-side carpets for domestics ; or for other purposes 
in families where much economy is necessary. They are made 
of old cloth ; for instance, of coats, pantaloons, &c., that can 
no longer be worn. After it has been well brushed ana beaten, 
rip the cloth apart, and with very large scissors cut it into 
straight, even strips, about two inches wide, laying them in a 
basket as you proceed. Then with coarse, strong, brown 
thread sew together the ends of all the strips, and wind them 
into large balls. You may add strips of old carpeting, green 
baize, or red flannel. When you have collected a sufficient 
quantity, send them to the weaver and have them woven into a 
carpet, which, though certainly far from handsome, will be 
thick, strong, and durable. 

Rag rugs are sometimes made entirely of old ingrain car 
peting. 

PICTURES. — In purchasing specimens of the fine arts, 
select only such as are good. A small and excellent collection 
is of far more intrinsic value, and evinces better taste than a 
large number of bad, or even tolerable pictures, that, instead 
of ornamenting your walls, and adding interest to your apart- 
ments, only degrade and disfigure them. 

Do not mix engravings and oil-paintings on the walls of the 
same room. Drawings in crayons and in water-colours may, 
however, be placed with prints. Take care to hang none of 
them so high as to be seen to disadvantage. Those that are 
small should be placed quite low, and judiciously interspersed 
among the larger ones. Each of the largest and finest oil-pic- , 
tures ought to be lighted by a pair of lamps, placed on brackets, 
one at each side. 



FURNITURE, ETC. 187 

To prevent the necessity of driving nails into the wall, it is 
now very usual, in handsome apartments, to have a brass rod 
fixed all round the cornice, just below the ceiling; and to this 
rod, are fastened long ribbons, (all of the same colour,) to 
which the pictures are suspended, with a handsome bow at 
each ing. Even where there is not a brass rod, it is better to 
hang the pictures by long ribbons, from brass-headed nails or 
hooks, driven at the height of the cornice, than to have nail- 
marks dispersed all over the walls. 

For halls and libraries, maps on rollers are more appropriate 
than pictures. 

In getting engravings framed, see that the glass is as clear as 
possible ; for a greenish or reddish tinge will cause the print 
to look badly. The effect of an engraving is greatly improved, 
by leaving round it a large margin of the white paper. 

To brighten the glass, rub it with a buckskin and whiting, 
made a little damp ; and then wipe it with a silk handkerchief. 
On no account wash it, or the water will get in beneath, and 
stain the enorravino-. 

"When an oil-painting is soiled, smoked, or in any way 
defaced, (also when it wants varnishing,) it is best to send it 
to a regular picture-cleaner ; as an inexperienced person may 
do it irreparable injury; and few of the receipts for those pur- 
poses are to be depended on. 

If an oil picture is hung over a mantel-piece, the canvas if 
liable to wrinkle with the heat. 

To keep clean the gilding of picture-frames, dust them with 
a soft feather-brush ; or go lightly over them with a loose bit 
of the inside of wadding, or of carded cotton. 

When much soiled, the best remedy is to send them to be 
gilt anew ; as the usual receipts for cleaning gilt frames wil. 
be found, on trial, rather injurious than beneticial. 



188 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

CURTAINS. — Unless the chairs, sofas, &c., are covered 
with satin-hair, the curtains should, of course, always correspond 
with thera in colour, if not in material. Also with the carpet. 
As we have before observed, the colour of the curtains should 
c <ntrast that of the walls, always being darker and entirely 
different. With regard to the fringe, lace, or bordering of the 
curtains, if the colours do not harmonize or contrast agreeably, 
and according to the dictates of good taste, the effect will be bad, 
no matter how rich or expensive the materials. For instance, two 
dark colours or two light ones should not go together. Scarlet 
curtains trimmed with blue or yellow do not look well ; but bright 
scarlet has a good effect vrith dark green or black. A rich, deep 
crimson contrasts finely with an extremely light and beautiful 
blue ; or with a golden yellow. Curtains of a full blue, may be 
trimmed with black, dark brown, orange, or bright yellow. Light 
blue curtains look extremely well with purple trimmings, or with 
rich brown. Brown curtains appear to advantage trimmed with 
light blue or pink. Dark grey or slate-colour may also be trimmed 
with very pale pink or blue. For green curtams, light lilac trim- 
ming looks w'ell ; also golden yellow. Curtains of buff, orange 
colour, or bright yellow, may be trimmed with purple, brown, 
black, deep crimson, or dark blue. Curtains of a rich purple, 
trimmed with orange, or golden yellow, have a magnificent effect. 
A very light blue trimming also assimilates well with purple. 

In handsomely furnished houses, the most usual materials 
for curtains, are silk and worsted damask, figured satin, and 
merino cloth ; always with shades or inside draperies of mus- 
lin, which should be taken down and washed several times 
during the season. Chintz curtains are now seldom seen in 
America, except for bed-rooms. 

It is not a good custom to keep the curtains up during tht» 
summer, as it fades them, and covers them with dust ; besidp.-? 



FURNITURE, ETC. 



189 



which, they seem to increase the heat of the rooms, and impede 
the free entrance of the air. Venetian and linen blinds are the 
best shades for windows in summer time. 



TO CLEAN CURTAINS.— This should always be done 
before they are put away for the summer. Having taken 
down the curtains, and shaken them well, brush them with a 
small long-haired brush, so as to get off all the dust, particu- 
larly from between the gathers, pleats, or flutings. To do this 
conveniently, the different parts of the curtains should be sepa- 
rated. Prepare a sufficient quantity of good wheat bran ; put 
it into a large pan, and place it before the fire to dry ; stirring 
it frequently with your hands while drying. Afterwards, if 
the curtains are of silk, mix with the bran an ounce or more of 
finely powdered indigo blue. Having provided several pieces 
of clean soft flannel, spread the curtains (a piece at a time) on 
a large table, and sprinkle them with the bran, a handful at a 
time. Next, take a bit of the flannel, and with it rub the bran 
round and round on the curtains, letting it rest a while, before 
you brush it off. As you proceed, take clean bran and a fresh 
piece of flannel, and continue till you have gone sufficiently 
over the curtains, which by this process will be much bright- 
ened and improved in appearance. Then fold them lightly and 
smoothly ; and if they are of merino, worsted damask, or cloth, 
lay among them numerous bits of camphor to preserve them 
from moths, and pin or sew them up closely in old linen 
sheets or table-cloths. Then put them away in a eldest or 
closet. 

If glazed chintz curtains are cleaned regularly in this manner, 
when they are taken down towards the close of spring, they 
will not require washing for several years. 
Ottomans and sofas, whether covered with cloth, damask, or 



190 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

chihta;, will look much the better for being cleaned occasionally 
with bran and flannel. 



VENETIAN BLINDS.— As they are intended for conve- 
nience rather than for ornament, it is not necessary that Vene- 
tian blinds should, like curtains, have a conspicuous effect in 
the room. On the contrary, it is better that their colour should 
as nearly as possible match that of the wall. Green Venetian 
blinds are getting out of favour, as that colour fades very soon, 
spots with wet, and shows the dust too plainly. Venetian 
blinds should every day be dusted with a small brush or a 
turkey wing, and wiped with a soft dry cloth. 



LINEN WINDOW BLINDS.— These blinds, as they 
soften the glare of the sun without excluding the light, are 
extremely useful in sitting-rooms and libraries. It is best to 
have them of Jine white linen: if coarse, the light that comes 
through them will not be clear, the thick, uneven threads dis- 
turbing or confusing it. Brown holland blinds darken the room 
too much. You can procure linen wide enough to make each 
blind without a seam. They should be sufficiently long to 
reach from the top of the window to the bottom, a little below 
the sill ; and it is well to make them full large at first, as they 
will shrink in washing. They are furnished with pulleys, 
tassels, &c., and are fitted up by the upholsterers. Care must 
be taken that the little wheels or pivots over which the cord 
is majje to run, are not grooved too shallow, as that defect wil! 
cause the cords to slip off" so continually as to render them 
nearly useless. 



PAPER BLINDS.— These very cheap blinds are made ol 
wall-paper lined with thick domestic muslin, and bound with 



URN I TD RE, ETC. '91 

worsted ferret. They are useful in common bed-rooms, for 
attics, and for kitchens. Being double, they darken the room 
as much as can be desired, when let down entirely. They look 
best made of plain, unfigured wall-paper; and should be pasted 
smoothly on the muslin lining, both being cut so as to fit the 
window from the top to the sill. When quite dry, bind them 
all rounds and sew into the bottom of each a roller made of an 
eld brush-handle or something of the sort, cut off to the proper 
length. Nail to the middle of the window frame, over the top 
of each blind, a long double string of worsted ferret, so as to 
fall or hang down on both the outside and inside. By tying 
or untying this string, you can fasten up or let down the blind 
to any height that is convenient. 



SHORT BLINDS.— These are very useful in obviating the 
Inconvenience of being seen by persons passing the windows, 
or of being exposed to the view of opposite neighbours. Short 
Venetian blinds, opening in the middle, though the most expen- 
sive, are the best and most lastingr. Those of worsted stuif are 
seldom used but for office-windows. For sitting-rooms, cham- 
bers, &c., the blinds generally in use are of white muslin. 
Those of plain uniigured Swiss or Scotch muslin look much 
the best, but are more easily seen through than when the mus- 
lin is striped or cross-barred ; if the latter, let the cross-bars be 
small and close. Large cross-bars give muslin a very ungen- 
teel look for all purposes, even for window blinds. Two yards 
of six-quarter or ell-wide muslin will generally be sufficient for 
a pair of blinds. They should reach to the top of the lower 
sash, and descend to the window sill. Hem the bottom of each 
blind, and make a case in the top, through which run a tape, 
(securing it by a few stitches in the middle,) and leaving long 



,92 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

ends of tape to wrap tightly round the nails which fasten the 
blind on each side to the window frame. 

There should be two sets of blinds, as they will frequently 
require washing. It is well always to starch them a little. 



MAHOGANY FURNITURE.— The handsomest and best 
mahogany is generally used for furniture that is not carved. 
As the beauty of the wood shows to no advantage in carving, 
that of the best quality is reserved for plain furniture. If not 
well-seasoned, new mahogany will warp and crack, particularly 
if kept in a warm room. It is best always to buy it from a 
cabinet-maker of established reputation. New furniture that 
s offered for sale considerably under the usual price is, in most 
cases, found to be a bad bargain. Fumittire made in the wm- 
ter, and brought immediately from a cold ware-room into a 
warm apartment, is very liable to crack. It is well to place 
your principal table so that the grain of the wood shall be 
across the fire-place rather than lengthways or with the end of 
the grain towards the heat. Observing this precaution has 
prevented many a table from cracking. If possible, it is always 
best to have your new furniture made in the spring, that it may 
have several months for seasoning, before the commencement 
of fires. 

If a mahogany table becomes very much defaced by scratches, 
hackings, or scorchings, let it go to a cabinet-maker's to be 
planed and polished. It will then look as well as new. 

Tables, &c., with marble tops, though the most costly at 
first, will be found, perhaps, cheapest in the end. They are 
easily kept clean, by merely wiping them every day with a 
soft cloth, and washing them once a week with cold water, 
soap, and a flannel ; they require no cloth to cover them, and 
there is no danger of their splitting or warping with the heat. 



FURNITURE, ETC. 193 

ROSE- WOOD. —This is the wood of the amyris, a small 
West Indian tree. Its colour is not red, but of a dark rich 
brown, and it is now much used for veneering handsome furni- 
ture. Chairs, sofas, &c., of rosewood, should not be covered 
with a dark-coloured material. Sky-blue, orange-colour, or 
bright green harmonize extremely well with it. 

To keep rose-wood furniture in good order, it should be 
rubbed gently every day with a clean soft cloth, and this will 
be sufficient. Preparations of wax, oil, &c., cannot be applied 
without injuring its appearance. 



CURLED MAPLE. — ^This is a very pretty wood, is easily 
kept in order, and never changes colour. It is extremely suit- 
able for chambers, libraries, and for dining-room^hairs. It is 
seldom used for drawing-room furniture, being considered too 
light, and not sufficiently rich. For a sofa, or for chairs with 
stuffed bottoms, maple should always be contrasted with a very 
dark colour, (for instance, black, brown, purple, or deep crim- 
son,) its effect being bad with light blue, green, yellow, &c. 

Curled maple furniture requires no other cleaning than rub 
oing with a dry cloth. 



BLACK WALNUT WOOD.— This is now much in uso 

tor furniture, and looks extremely well when not opposed to a 

very dark colour. W^here the wood is black walnut, the sofas, 

cushions, &c., look best of sky-blue, grass-green, scarlet, rose 

crimson, or bright brown. None of these colours, however, 

should be too light, or the contrast will be too great. Dark 

brown, dark crimson, dark green, or purple, have a very gloomy 

and heavy effect when united with black walnut. 

Clean it as you would mahogany. 

1 



194 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

ROCKING-CHAIRS.— The practice of swaying backwards 
and forwards in a parlour rocking-chair, is considered obsolete 
in genteel society; and justly so; as it is a most ungraceful 
recreation, particularly for a lady, (to say nothing of its ten- 
dency to cause dizziness in the head,) and very annoying to 
spectators, who may happen to be a little nervous. Rockitig- 
chairs are now only used for the ptirpose of reclining in with 
ease and convenience, to wbich the rockers add greatly, as by 
their means, the chair can be tilted and kept stationary in any 
position that is desired, provided always there is a footstool oi 
heavy cushion in front, to rest the feet on; and without such 
an accompaniment, no chair of this description can be com- 
pletely comfortable. 

Parlour rocking-chairs are best of mahogany and black satin 
hair, no other covering keeping clean so long, and being so 
cool in summer. Those that are covered with cloth, worsted 
damask, or cut velvet, will be found uncomfortably rough, and 
also too warm. 

For common chambers, rocking-chairs of curled maple and 
cane net-work are very good, being light, cool, and cheap. In 
winter, or for invalids, they may be improved in comfort, by 
furnishing them with cushions for the bottom, the back, and 
the two arms; the cushions made of coarse linen, stuffed with 
feathers or hair, covered wiih chintz, and tied on with strings. 



FLOWER-STANDS.— There is a very pretty flower-stand 
called a jardiniere. It is made in the form of a small maho- 
gany table, with a top like a dinner tray. Into this tray fits 
a painted block-tin pan of the same size, with a movable wire 
cover of trellis-work, the net large and open. This pan is filled 
with wet sand, and the trellis-work cover is then laid on. 
Take your flowers (the stalks cut all of a length) and stick 



FURNITURE, ETC. 195 

ihem firmly down through the wire netting into the sand be- 
neath. The howers should be tastefully arranged, v/ith the 
largest in the centre, and the smallest round the edges ; and 
there must be a sufficient quantity of them to form a mass or 
close bed. Or you may have the central flowers taller than the 
others, which should gradually diminish in height all around 
them, till the small ones near the edge are but just above the 
rim of the frame. Arranged in this manner, they will look 
like a bank of flowers. 

The jardiniere has a loose extra top of mahogany, which fits 
in, and converts it into a complete table when not in use foi 
flowers. 

In forming' bouquets or nosegays", always put the largest, 
fullest, and most substantial flowers in the centre, (for instance, 
roses, dahlias, camellias, &c.,) and those that are smallest, 
lightest, and most branchy, on the outside. 

Flowers may be placed very handsomely in ^een basket? 
filled with wet sand. 



SCRAP-JARS. — It is a great convenience to keep standing 
on the floor, in a corner of the room, a very large jar, for the 
purpose of receiving bits of waste paper or clippings, which 
there may be no immediate way to get rid of. If of china, one 
of these jars will add a handsome ornament to the parlour. 
For a library (where they are particularly useful) you may get 
from a grocer, a very large raisin-jar of unglazed earthen, and 
have it painted all over in oil, so as to imitate china, afterwards 
varnishing it. For a chamber, or a common sitting-room, we 
have seen these earthen jars decorated all over wdth flowers, 
fee, cut out of furniture chintz, pasted on securely, and alter 
ivards coated with varnish. If done with taste, they look ex 
\remely weil. From the form of these jars, and being small 



l96 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

at the mouth, their contents are not observed, unless purposely 
looked into, and they will be found excellent receptacles for 
refuse paper, &,c., particularly in summer, when there is no fire 
to consume these scraps. 



CLIPPING BAGS. — In a room where any sewing is done, 
a clipping bag will be found very useful to hang in a conve- 
nient place, for the purpose of receiving shreds, shapings, &c., 
of the articles cut out and sewed there. The very smallest bits 
and scraps of linen, cotton, or silk (even ravellings) are useful 
to the paper-makers ; and nothing that is useful should be burnt 
or destroyed. If all the females of our country made a principle 
of saving in this manner the whole of their shreds and clippings, 
and also all their rags, there would be less necessity for import- 
ing rags from Europe : which is constantly done to a very large 
amount, in consequence of the scanty supply to be obtained in 
America. 

A clipping bag may be made very handsome and ornamental ; 
in which case it should always be put away in a closet while 
the room is being swept. When this bag is full, let it be 
emptied into the large general rag-bag which should be kept 
in every house. Though the price given for a pound of rags 
is but a few cents, still even that is something, and will at least 
buy some needles, or pins, or a cotton-spool ; and if a lady 
chooses, she can give the money to the servant who conveys 
the rags to the rag-man. 



TO CLEAN VARNISHED MAHOGANY FURNI 
TURE. — Take rotten-stone very finely powdered, sift ii 
through book-muslin, and mix it with sweet oil. Then, with 
a clean, soft, linen or cotton cloth, rub it very hard on the ma 
hogany. Next take a clean cloth, dip it in wheat flour, and 



FURNITURE, ETC. 197 

A'ith it rub oflf the rotten-stone. Afterwards dust off tl e flour 
with a clean silk handkerchief. The fum'ture will be found 
to look beautifully. It is only necessary to clean it in this 
manner about once in three or four months ; but it should 
every day be dusted with a soft cotton cloth. 



TO CLEAN UNVARNISHED MAHOGANY TABLES. 

— Wipe the table att over with a clean damp cloth. Then take 
a thin, broad, flat furniture cork, and rub it hard on all the 
white spots or other stains. Next take a brush with a little 
bees-wax on it, and rub the table very hard, going according 
to the grain of the mahogany. Afterwards rub off the wax 
with a flannel cloth, and finish with a soft cotton cloth. 

Have a basket or a large coarse bag to' contain all that is 
necessary for the mahogany rubbing : brush, cork, bees-wax, 
cloths, &c. Before using it warm the wax a little. 



TO POLISH DINING-TABLES.— Take cold-drawn lin- 
seed oil, and rub it on for a long time with a very soft cloth. 
This is the best way to prevent dining-tables from being marked 
by the hot dishes. 

WAX POLISH. — Melt bees-wax in spirits of turpentine, 
with a very small proportion of rosin. When it is entirely 
dissolved, dip in a sponge and wash the mahogany lightly 
over with it. Immediately afterwards, rub it off with a clean 
soft cloth. For the carved work, spread on the mixture with 
a small soft brush, and rub it off with another brush a very 
little harder. 



TABLE MIXTURE.— Mix well together two ounces of 
ifpirits of turneftine four table-spoonfuls of sweet oil, and one 



198 • THE HOUSE BOOK. 

quart of milk. Put it into bottles, and cork it closely. When 
large tables are unusually soiled and stained, (for instance, 
after a dinner or supper party,) shake up the mixture, pour 
some of it into a saucer, dip into it a clean sponge, and rub 
your table all over with it quickly and evenly. Then dry it 
with a clean flannel, and afterwards rub it hard with a clean 
soft cloth. 



SOFAS AND MAHOGANY CHAIRS.— With your hand 
beat the dust out of the backs, bottoms, and cushions. Then 
with a painter's bristle brush, that has never been in paint, . 
brush over all the m.ahogany, to get the dust out of the carving. 
This should be done every day in rooms that are continually 
in use. When it is necessary to give the chairs, &c., a greatei 
cleaning, use (if the mahogany is varnished) sweet oil, rubbed 
on with a flannel, and finished off with a silk handkerchief; 
or, what is still better, finely powdered and sifted rotten-stone, 
mixed with sweet oil. If the mahogany is not varnished, have 
ready> two ounces or more of bees-wax, scraped down and put 
into a jar with as much spirits of turpentine as will cover it. 
This must stand till the wax is entirely dissolved. Put a little 
on a flannel, or on a bit of green baize, rub it on the chairs, and 
polish them with a brush. 

In buying or bespeaking a sofa, see that the seat is not too 
high and narrow, that the stuffing ol the back does not project 
too far forward, and that the arms are not too low ; with these 
defects any sofa will be uncomfortable. 

Chairs whose backs incline forward are extremely inconve- 
nient, as they allow little more than their edge to the sitter, 
who is also obliged to keep .bolt upright, and remain stitlly ir 
tpe same position. 



F U R M T U K E, E T C. 1 9i) 

TO CLEAN ALABASTER.— Make a mixture in the pro- 
portion of two ounces of aqua-fortis to a pint of cold rain or 
river water, which ought first to be filtered, as it is important 
that the water used for this purpose should be perfectly clear. 
Dip a clean brush in this liquid, and wash the alabaster willi 
it for five minutes or more. There should»be a brush small 
enough to^o into the most minute parts. Then rinse it with 
cold clear water, and set it in the sun for two or three hours 

to dry. 

The aqua-fortis will make the alabaster very white ; and, 
being so much diluted, will do it no injury. Soap should never 
be used for alabaster, as it will greatly discolour it. 

Alabaster ornaments ought to be cleaned in the above man- 
ner, previous to covering them up for the summer. If kept 
always uncovered, they will require cleaning with aqua-fortis 
and water twice a year, spring and autumn 



WHITE MARBLE. — White marble door-steps should be 
washed every morning (except in freezing weather) with cold 
water and soap. This is the custom in Philadelphia. Grease 
may be removed from them, by rubbing on some fine marble- 
dust (procured from the marble-cutters) mixed into a paste with 
cold water, and put on with a brush ; repeating the process, 
till the grease disappears. 

Marble tables may also be washed with cold water and soap. 

The white marble used for vases, busts, and very elegant 
mantel-pieces or tables, being of the finest quality, and highly 
polished, cannot be washed with soap and water without injury. 
The best way to keep it clean and bright is, by rubbing it daily 
with a soft dry cloth, or a clean silk handkerchief. Stains and 
grease-spots may be extracted from it by rubbing them well 
with salt of sorrel, silt of tartar, or magnesia finely powdered. 



200 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Let the powder remain two or three hours on the spot; then 
wipe it off, and renew it till the mark disappears. 



COLOURED MARBLE. — Black, gray, or variegated 
marble may be made very clean, by rubbing on it with a brush 
a paste conipount^ of a jill of ox-gall, a jill of strong soap-suds, 
and half a jill of turpentine, all mixed together and, thickened 
v/ith finely powdered pipe-clay. You should have a second 
brush, small enough to go into the fluting, &c. Having applied 
this paste to the marble, let it remain undisturbed for two days. 
Then wipe it off; and if you do not find the marble perfectly 
bright and clean, repeat the mixture a second or a third time, 
and it will certainly succeed by repetition. 

Grease-spots (even those of lamp-oil) may be removed from 
a marble hearth, by covering the place thickly with scraped 
Wilmingtoh clay, wiping it off, and renewing it every two or 
three hours. Powdered fullers earth may be substituted. 

Grease may also be taken out, by rubbing the stone with a 
mixture of pearl-ash, lime, and water, made into a paste or 
mortar; leaving it on several hours; then wiping it off, and 
repeating it. 

Iron stains may be removed from marble, by wetting the 
spots with oil of vitriol, or with lemon-juice; or with oxalic 
acid diluted in spirits of wine, and after a quarter of an hour, 
rubbing them dry with a soft linen cloth. The same applica- 
tions will take out other stains from marble. 

The general appearance of a gray marble hearth will be 
greatly brightened and improved, by rubbing it occasionally 
with a flannel wet with linseed oil. The oil must be rubbed 
in very hard, so as not to come off and grease any thing that 
may afterwards touch it. Next day go over it with a clean 
lirv cloth. 



FURNITURE, ETC. 201 

STONE HEARTHS.— Hearths of free-stone or of biown 
sand-stone, should first be washed clean in hot soap-suds, and 
then rubbed with a paste or mortar, made of the powder or dust 
of the same stone, (to be obtained at the stone-cutter's,) mixed 
with a little water. Leave it to dry on, and then brush it off. 

A kitchen hearth-stone may occasionally be rubbed all over 
very hard with lamp-oil ; next day washing it well with soap 
and warm water. 



BRICK HEARTHS.— Brick hearths should be painted 
either red or black ; or with the back part black, and the front 
part red. They will require new painting at least twice a year. 

If not painted, it is best to keep the hearth clean by daily 
washing ; as both the redding and blacking mixtures sometimes 
used for hearths are troublesome from their liability to rub off, 
and from their too frequently requiring a renewal. 



CLEANING SILVER.— The articles necessary for this 
purpose should be kept by themselves in a basket or box. You 
will want clean flannels, sponges, buckskins, old silk hand- 
kerchiefs, and plate-brushes of two or three different sizes ; 
among which, one resembling a soft tooth-brush will be found 
useful for the minute parts of the chasing, and to rub between 
the prongs of the forks. None of the brushes should be hard, 
lest they scratch the plate. Silver that is in daily use should 
be cleaned once a week, (for instance, every Thursday,) bul 
plated-ware not so often, as the plating will wear off if rubbed! 
ioo frequently ; a brush should never be used to it. 

Both silver and plated-ware should be washed with a spong* 
and warm soap-suds, every day after using, and wiped dry witl 
a clean soft towel. Always before you give them their regu^'?, 
cleaning with powder, see that they have been washsd perfectlj. 



202 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

free irom grease or any like impurity ; otherwise they cannot 
be made to look bright and well when finished. 

The most common method of cleaning silver, is with pulve- 
rized whiting and whisky : or with spirits of wine, which is 
better. The whiting must be made as fine as possible; for if 
there are any coarse or rough particles among it, they will 
scratch the. silver. You may powder it very finely, either by 
pounding it in a mortar, or by tying it up in a clean rag, laying 
it down on the hearth, and beating it with a hammer ; after 
which, spread it thinly over a large plate, and place it before 
the fire« to dry. Then sift it through a piece of coarse book- 
muslin or leno. Mix the whiting into a paste or cream, with 
whisky or spirits of wine ; and by dipping a flannel or sponge 
into it, coat the silver all over with the mixture; after which, 
lay all the articles in the sun to dry; or place them on an old 
japanned waiter, before the fire, but not very near it. The paste 
raust become so dry on the articles, that you may dust it ofi 
them like flour, with a soft cloth. Afterwards, with the small- 
est brush, rub between the prongs of the forks, and go over all 
the minute or delicate parts of the silver. The plain or unorna- 
mented parts are best rubbed with flannel, as they show the 
most trifling scratches. Next, polish with a buckskin or 
a shammy leather; and finish with a soft silk handkerchief. 

The above mode of cleaning (if done weekly) will be suffi- 
cient for silver that is in common use, and will keep it always 
bright. Its appearance may be improved, and a look of new- 
ness given to it, by employing occasionally (but not very often) 
the reddish powder called plate-rouge, as a substitute for 
whiting and whisky. This powder is to be obtained from the 
druggists, and should be used in very small quantities. After 
the silver has been well washed in warm soap-suds and drietl 
• perfectly, rub on a little of the roug^e with a soft buckskin 



FURNITURE, ETO. 203 

using a brush for the crevices. Let it rest about ten minutes y 
then wipe it all off with a soft rag, and polish with a clean 
buckskin; finishing with a silk handkerchief. 

When silver has become much tarnished, spotted, or dis- 
coloured, it may be restored by the following process. Having 
dissolved two tea-spoonfuls of powdered alum in a quart of 
moderately strong lye, stir in a jill of soft soap, and remove 
the scum or dross that may rise to the surface. After washing 
the silver in hot water, take a sponge and cover every article 
all over with this mixture. Let the things rest about a quarter 
of an hour, frequently turning them. Next wash them off in 
warm soap-suds, and wipe them dry with a soft cloth. After- 
wards brighten them with rouge-powder, or with whiting and 
spirits of wine. 

Another, and a very excellent way of cleaning silver, 13 
with what is called prepared cha/k, which is rather better than 
whiting, and requires no sifting. Mix together in a tin pan, pre 
pared chalk and spirits of wine, till they are as thick as cream. 
Rub it on the silver with a soft flannel, and then rub it off with 
a buckskin. Take a small brush for the chasing or embossed 
work, and finish with a very soft cloth and a silk handkerchief. 

Another way, and which is said to preserve the polish better 
than any of the usual modes of cleaning silver, is, after it has 
been washed with hot water, to go over it with a paste mady 
of iine hartshorn powder (well sifted) and spirits of turpentine, 
rubbed on with a -leather and not wiped off till it has dried. 
Then polish with a clean buckskin ; and set the plate in the 
sun and air to dispel the smell of the turpentine. 

Chests, or closets constructed for the purpose of containing 
plate, should be placed in the dryest part of the house, and 
lined all through with green baize or other w^oollen cloth. If 
is well to have them of iron, and made fire proof. Plate 



204 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

baskets should also be lined throughout with grecj baize. I( 
silver is kept in a damp place, it is liable to tarnish and spot 
continually. 



TO REMOVE MEDICINE STAINS FROM SILVER 
SPOONS. — Silver spoons frequently become discoloured by 
using them in taking medicine. These stains (even that of 
muriate of iron) may be removed by rubbing the spoon with a 
rag dipped in sulphuric acid, and afterwards washing it off in 
soap-sups, and then cleaning the spoon in the usual manner 



A FINE PLATE MIXTURE.— Take one pound of the 
best whiting, or of prepared chalk, and rub it to a fine powder. 
Then sift it. Mix together four ounces of spirits of turpentine : 
two ounces of spirits of wine : one ounce of spirits of cam- 
phor, and half an ounce of spirits of hartshorn. Then add the 
whiting gradually to the liquid, stirring in a little at a time, 
and mixing the whole thoroughly till it is of the consistence 
of cream : put it into a very close vessel, (a large bottle, or a 
white jar,) and cork it tightly, tying down a leather over the 
cork. To use the mixture, pour out a sufficient portion into a 
bowl or pan, and with a soft clean sponge cover the silver with 
it so as to give it a coat like white-wash. Set the silver aside 
for ten minutes or more till the paste has dried into a powder. 
Then brush it off, tind polish first with a buckskin, then with a 
silk handkerchief. 

It will be found very convenient t j keep this mixture always 
in the nouse. It makes the plate look beautifully new. 



ANOTHER PLATE MIXTURE.— Pulverize an ounce 
of lump camphor, mix it with fifty drops of sweet oil, and 
dissolve it in a pint of whisky. Put it into a bottle and keep 



FURNITURE, ETC. 205 

it very. closely corked. When you wish to use it, mix with it 
a sufficiency of powdered whiting or prepared chalk to make a 
thin paste, and coat the silver all over with it. After it is dried 
on, brush it off, and polish with a buckskin and silk handker- 
chief; using a small brush for the cavities and chasings. 



TO OBTAIN VERY FINE WHITING.— Pour water on 
it. Then after a while, pour off the water from the whiting 
that has settled at the bottom, and replace it with more water. 
Let it settle for a time, and then again pour off the water from 
the top. By repeating this process several times, you will 
obtain a whiting that, after it has been spread out to dry in the 
sun, will be as fine as flour. Put it away for use in a closely 
covered box. 



CLEANING PLATED WARE.— Plated ware must not 
be cleaned as frequently as silver, lest the plating should wear 
off. If not greasy, it will be sufficient, after using, to wipe it 
with a soft cloth. If greasy, wash it in a small tub of strong 
hot soap-suds ; taking out each article quickly, and wiping it 
immediately with a soft linen cloth ; using a clean flannel to dry 
it thoroughly, and finishing with a silk handkerchief. Once a 
fortnight it may be cleaned by covering it with prepared chalk 
finely powdered, and made into a paste with sweet oil. When the 
mixture has dried on, wash it off with a sponge dipped in spirits 
of wine or whisky. Then rub the article dry with a soft flan- 
nel, and finish with a silk handkerchief. It is best to use no 
brush for plated ware, and to give it less rubbing than if it 
were silver. With careful cleaning the best plated ware will 
last a long time. 

18 



206 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

SILVER AND PLATED CANDLESTICKS.— To re- 
move wax or spermaceti from silver or plated candlesticks, 
pour on them a little warm (not boiling) water, and when it 
has melted the grease, wipe it off with a flannel. To loosen 
the grease by scraping with a knife will scratch the silver. 
Then wash the candlesticks well with a sponge dipped in warm 
soap-suds, taking care not to wet the green baize that is 
cemented under the bottom, lest the moisture should loosen it. 
Wash the candlesticks one at a time, and wipe each one dry 
before you wash another. Then clean them with fine whiting 
or prepared chalk and whisky, in the usual manner, or with 
whiting and sweet oil. 

Plated candlesticks should be cleaned but seldom with any 
sort of powder, and never with a brush. Their utmost rubbing 
should be with a soft flannel. But every morning let the wax 
or spermaceti be melted off with warm water, and then wipe 
them clean with a soft cloth. 



GERMAN SILVER. — Forks of this composition are much 
in use ; and when very good it has a resemblance to genuine 
silver, and is equally durable. It is by no means costly, and 
when properly taken care of, and kept bright, it looks very well. 
After using, it should be put immediately into hot water, washed 
well, and wiped dry with a soft cloth. Once a week let it be 
washed in soap-suds, and then cleaned with very fine whiting 
or prepared chalk, mixed with whisky or spirits of wine, so 
as to make a paste, which should afterwards be brushed off. 
Should this metal become discoloured or spotted by vinegar or 
Qther acids, wash it first, and then clean it with sweet oil and 
powdered rotten-stone. 

Spoons of German silver are useful for many common pur' 
poses, particularly when making sweetmeats, &o.- 



FURNITURE, ETC. 207 

BrItANNIA metal— Powder, as fine as possible, half 
a pound of lump whiting-, and sift it well. Then mix with it 
a wine-glass of sweet oil, and a table-spoonful of soft soap, or a 
bit of yellow soap melted in a little water. Add to this mixture 
sufficient rum, whisky, or spirits of wine to make it the con- 
sistence of thick cream. Dip into it a soft sponge or a flannel, 
and rub it quickly and evenly on the article ; wipe it off with 
an old linen or cotton cloth, and polish it by rubbing with a 
buckskin. 

Britannia metal is frequently manufactured with so large a 
portion of copper as to render the use of the article extremely 
unwholesome. Tea and coffee-pots of this metal have been 
know^n to give the liquid contained in them so strong a taste 
and smell of copper, as to render the drinking it almost equal 
to swallowing poison. When an article of Britannia metal is 
found to contain too much copper, the use of it should be imme- 
diately given up, as no process whatever can render it otherwise 
than deleterious. 

The safest, and in every respect the most pleasant tea-pots, 
are those of china. Wedgwood ware is very apt, after a while, 
to acquire a disagreeable taste. 



BLOCK TIN DISH COVERS, &c.— Having washed the 
block tin articles quite clean in warm water, rub the inside with 
soft rags moistened with fine wet whiting. Then take a soft 
linen cloth, and go over the outside with a little sweet oil. 
Next rub it all over with fine whiting, powdered and sifted, 
and put on dry. Afterwards finish w4th a clean dry cloth. 
Block tin dish covers cleaned in this way with oil and whitinp-, 
will preserve their polish, and continue to look new, provided 
that they are always wiped dry as soon as they aie brought 



208 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

from table, and no steam or other damp is allowed to remain 
on them. 

Common articles of block tin, such as kettles, sauce-pans, 
&c., may be cleaned with whiting and water only. You may 
clean pewter in the same manner. 



COMMON TINS. — Throw some wood-ashes into a wash- 
kettle, pour on water till it is two-thirds full, and then let it 
boil. Or make a strong lye. Dip in the tins when it is boil- 
ing hot ; and, if they are very dirty, leave them in about ten 
minutes. Take them out, and cover them with a mixture of 
soft soap and the very finest sand. This must be rubbed on 
with a coarse tow-cloth. Then rinse them in a tub of cbld 
water, and set them in the sun to drain and dry. When dry, 
finish by rubbing them well with a clean woollen cloth or flan- 
nel. They will look very nice and bright. 

You may clean pewter in the same manner. 



CLEANING JAPANNED WAITERS, URNS, &c.-. 
Rub on with a sponge a little white soap and some luke-warra 
water, and wash the waiter or urn quite clean. Never use hot 
water, as it will cause the japan to scale off. Having wiped 
it dry, sprinkle a little flour over it; let it rest a while, and then 
rub it with a soft dry cloth, and finish with a silk handker- 
chief. If there are white heat marks on the waiters, they will 
be difficult to remove. But you may try rubbing them with a 
funnel dipped in sweet oil, and afterwards in spirits of wine. 

Waiters and other articles oi papier mache^ should be washed 
with a sponge and cold water without soap, dredged with 
flour while damp, and after a while wiped off, and tlien po- 
lished vviih a silk handkerchief. 



FUUNITURE, ETC. 209 

TO CLEAN JAPANNED CANDLE-STICKS, fee- 
Pour on water just warm enough to melt the grease, for if scald- 
ing hot it will injure the japan. Next wipe them well v/ithasoft 
cloth ; sprinkle them with flour from the dredging box : let 
them rest a while, and then wipe them off with a clean cloth. 

Japanned urns, waiters, &c., should be cleaned with a sponge 
and cold water, finishing with a soft dry cloth. So also 
should India lacquered articles. 



TO CLEAN DECANTERS, &c.— Place a funnel in the 
mouth of the decanter, and pour through it some small shot, or 
some raw un-pared potato cut into little square bits, or some 
pounded egg-shells. Have ready in a small tub, a strong suds of 
white soap and cold water, which will be the better for having 
a little pearl-ash dissolved in it: or a few drops of muriatic 
acid mixed with the water will greatly improve the polish of 
the glass. Dip out some of the suds, pour it into the decanter 
(through the funnel) and shake it about with the shot, or cut 
potato, from five to ten minutes, till you see all the impurities 
disappear from the inside of the glass. Then empty it out, 
put in some more suds, and wash round the inside with a bit 
of sponge tied on the end of a stick. It is well to have a 
regular glass-stick, which should be more than a foot in length, 
with a flat knob at the end on which to fasten a sponge or a 
soft rag. After having washed the decanters in the above 
manner, rinse them out twice with clear cold water. Next put 
them into the tub of clean soap-suds, and wash them well on 
the outside with a glass-brush, (a brush with a broad handle 
and short bristles,) and afterwards rinse the outside in clean 
water. Dry the inside with a bit of soft rag fixed to the end 
of your glass-stick, and wipe the outside with a soft towel, 

finishing with a silk handkerchief, or a shammy leather, or a 

18 



210 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

soft buckskin ; rubbing well into all the cavities, if the glass 
IS cut. 

Wine-glasses and tumblers should be washed in the same 
manner with cold soap-suds and a glass-brush, finishing them 
as above. 

Common glasses that are in daily use, may be washed sim- 
ply with cold water; drained, wiped, and then finished with a 
fine dry towel. 

Glass cloths should be of fine quality, that there may be as 
little lint as possible. 

For cruets from the castors, it will be necessary to have the 
water warm : but not hot, as glasses break when hot water is 
poured into them. After the cruets are emptied of their con- 
tents for the purpose of washing, fill them, as far as the neck, 
with warm water ; shake them, and let them stand a while to 
soak. Then proceed as directed for decanters. 

Boiling water should never be poured suddenly into glass, 
particularly in frosty weather. Besides the danger of its crack- 
ino- in hot water, it looks brighter and clearer when done in cold. 



TO LOOSEN GLASS STOPPERS.— When there U 
difficulty in removing a glass stopper, pour round it a little 
sweet oil, close to the mouth of the bottle. Then lay it near 
the fire with the mouth towards the heat, and when it gets 
quite warm, wrap a thick cloth round the end of a stick, and 
strike (but not too hard) first at one side of the stopper, then 
at the other. This will soon loosen it. Or you may set the 
bottle in a vessel of warn water, previous to striking at the 
stopper. 

CLEANING CUT GLASS.— Having washed your cui- 
glass articles, and let them rest till thoroughly dry, rub them 

- '^^^ 



FURNITUKE, ETC. 



211 



with prepared chalk, and a soft brush, carefully goinor into 
all the flutings and cavities. Then finish with a clean soft 
buckskin. 

TO Vv^ASHVIALS.— In most families are gradually collected 
a numbe' of vials that have been used for medicine. It is well 
to have a basket purposely to keep them in, and once in a while 
to wash them all, that they may be ready to send to the drug- 
gist's when new medicine is wanted. Put into a wash-kettle 
some sifted ashes, and pour on it a sufficiency of cold water. 
Then put in the vials, (without corks,) place the kettle over 
the fire, and let it gradually come to a boil. After it has boiled 
a while, take it off, and set it aside ; letting the vials remain 
in till cold. Then take them cut, rinse, drain them, and wipe 
the outsides. 

You may wash black bottles in tne same manner. 
If you have occasion to" wash a single vial or bottle, pour 
into it through a small funnel either some lye, or some luke- 
warm water in which a little pearUash has been dissolved ; 
shake it, and let it stand a while to soak. Then rinse it well 
in cold water, two or three times. If it still smells of the 
former contents, soak it in more pearl-ash water, (with the 
addition of a little lime,) or in more lye. 



CLEANING LOOKING-GLASSES. — First wash the 
glass all over with clean luke-warm soap-suds and a sponge. 
When dry, rub it bright with a buckskin and a little prepared 
chalk, finely powdered. Finish with a silk handkerchief. 

This is also an excellent way to clean the inside of windows; 
it makes the glass beautifully clear. 

Another very good way of cleaning a mirror, is to wash it 
irst with a sponge and cold water, and afterwards with a soft 



212 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

flannel dipped in whisky or spirits of wine, which will effect 
ualiy remove from it all smears and fly-marks. Then, having 
wiped it dry with a soft linen cloth, rub over it with a soft 
flannel a little powder-blue, or else fine whiting. Let it rest a 
whi^C', and then rub it off with a silk handkerchief. 

In cleaning" looking-glasses, take care that no moistur 
touches the gilding of the frame. To clean a burnished gilt 
frame, nothing is better than to go over it lightly with bits 
of soft cotton wool, or a piece of the inside of new wadding ; 
having first dusted it with a feather brush. 

A mahogany frame should be first well dusted, and then 
cleaned with a flannel dipped in sweet oil; using a small brush 
for the carvings, if there are any, and finishing with a silk 
handkerchief. The frame should be cleaned previously to tho 
glass. 



TO CLEAN GILT LAMPS, CHANDELIERS, CAN- 
DLE-BRANCHES, &c.— Having first wiped off the dust from 
the articles to be cleaned, make a strong suds of the finest white 
soap (palm soap will do) and soft luke-warm water, and, dip- 
ping into it a clean sponge, wash carefully every part of the 
gilding. Then, with a small soft brush, (a tooth-brush, for 
instance,) go lightly into all the hollows, crevices, and most 
delicate parts of the work with the soap-suds, taking care not 
to rub hard. When you find that the water has become dirty, 
replace it with clean suds. Finish by drying the articles with 
an old silk handkerchief. 

Unless your servants are unusually careful, do not intrust 
this work to them, lest they break off some of the minute orna- 
ments, or rub so hard as to deface the gilding. 

This mo(le of cleaning will not succeed with the frames of 
pictures or mirrors. For them there is no safe remedy, when 



FURNITURE, ETC. 213 

Ihey are soiled and discoloured, but to have tliem newly 
gilt. 

Chandeliers should be dusted at least once a week, (or 
oAener if necessary,) with one of those long-handled, soft fea- 
ther brushes made for such purposes. Great care is requisite 
in dusting them, (even in this manner,) as the drops and other 
ornaments must be touched with the utmost delicacy. This 
work, also, should not be intrusted to any but the most careful 
domestics. 

Bronzed chandeliers, lamps, &c., should be merely dusted 
with a feather brush or w4th a soft cloth. Washing them will 
take off the bronzinof. 



CLEANING KNIVES AND FORKS— It is an excellent 
way to have, at dinner-time, on a side-table, a deep, tall, japanned 
or painted mug or can, filled with sufficient hot water to cover 
the blades of the knives and forks, but not enough to reach to 
their handles, which the hot water would split or loosen. As 
the plates are taken from the table, the servant who waits 
should at once stand the knives and forks upright (blade down- 
wards) in this vessel of warm w-ater, which will prevent the 
grease from drying on them, and make them very easy to wash 
when dinner is over. Afterwards, let them be carried out in 
the knife-basket, which should be lined with tin. Then wash 
them with water, warm, but not hot, and a soft cloth ; and wipe 
them dry on a clean towel, always turning the back or dull 
edge towards your thumb. Besides the washing, as many as 
are wanted for use should be cleaned, previous to every meal, 
on a board with brick-dust; otJierwise they will neither bo 
bright nor sharp. 

The knife-board should be of soft pine, free from knots, five 
or six feet long, and made with standers or feet at the ends. 



214 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

like a bench. It will last much longer if the part most used 
is covered with leather. A yard is a good height for a knife- 
board. At one end have a small box, to contain the leathers, 
bricks, fork-sticks, &c. What is called Bath brick is the 
proper sort for cleaning knives ; it is whitish and soft. Rub 
the brick up and down on the board till you have got off a suf- 
ficiency of powder ; or you may take a brick in each hand and 
rub them together. Then, taking one knife at a time, hold the 
handle firmly in your hand, and with a quick motion rub the 
blade (on both sides) in the brick-dust, taking care not to bear 
on too hard, lest you break it. By practice, you may learn to 
clean * wo knives at once, holding one in each hand, back to 
back. As you do them, lay them aside till you are ready to 
wipe them off. Replenish the board with fresh brick-dust as 
you go on. When they are all rubbed bright, wipe off the 
knives with a clean cloth, and put them into your knife-box, 
which should be previously wiped out quite clean. If you 
have steel forks, rub their backs on the brick-dust board till 
they are very bright. Have by you a small flat stick of pine 
wood, shaped like a knife-blade, about the length of your mid- 
dle finger, and covered with leather. Dip it into the brick-dust, 
and rub it between the prongs of the forks, to clean and brighten 
them. Then wipe them carefully with your knife-cloth, stick- 
ing the forks through its corners, to get out all the brick-dust 
from between the prongs. 

Another way to clean steel forks is, to keep always beside 
the knife-board a box or a small keg, filled with chopped hay 
or straw and fine sand, in alternate layers, pressed down very 
hard, and having sand mixed with brick-dust at the top. The 
contents must all be packed closely, and kept damp by occa- 
sional wetting. Plunge the steel .part of the forks a few times 
into this; the i wipe them afterwards with a clean cloth, 



FURNITURE, ETC. 215 

(inserting the comer between the prongs,) and then polish them 
with the fork-stick, wtlhout brick-dust. 

Handles of ebony should be cleaned with a soft cloth dipped 
in a little sweet oil ; and after resting a while with the oil on 
them, let them be well wiped M'ith a clean towel. Ivory or 
bone handles ought to be washed with a soaped flannel and 
lukewarm water, and then wiped with a dry towel. To pre- 
serve or restore their whiteness, soak them occasionally in 
alum-water that has been boileu and then grown cold. liCt 
them lie for an hour in a vessel of this alum-water. Then take 
them out, and brush them well with a small brush, (a tooth- 
brush will do,) and afterwards take a clean lineii towel, dip it 
in cold water, squeeze it out, and, while wet, wrap it round the 
handles, leaving them in it to dry gradually ; as, if dried too 
fast out of the alum-water, they will be injured. If properly 
managed, this process will make them very white. 

To keep knives and forks in good order, when not in conti- 
nual use, and to restore them when found rusty, have them well 
cleaned, and then rub the steel part with a flannel dipped in 
sweet oil, or in melted mutton suet. Let them rest several 
hours ; then dust them all over with finely powdered quick- 
lime, tied up in a thin muslin bag. In two or three days, wipe 
oif the oil and lime ; rub them with a buckskin or shammy 
leather ; wrap them first in green baize, and then an outside 
covering of coarse brown paper, and put them away. They 
should always be kept in a dry place. 

Another way of cleaning knives and forks is, after washing 
tlie blades in warm (but not hot) water, and wiping them dry. 
to rub them lightly over with powdered rotten-stone wet to a 
paste with a little cold water. Let it dry on ; and then wipe 
it off", and polish them with a clean cloth. It is said they wil. 
last much loncrcr if cleaned in this manner than in the usual 



216 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

way of rubbing them on a board with brick-dust; but as it will 
not keep the knives sharp, they must be frequently whetted on 
a knife steel, or on a whetstone. 



TO CLEAN FIRE-IRONS.— Mix together a tea-spoonful 
of oil of vitriol, a table-spoonful of sweet oil, and half a pint 
"of spirits of turpentine: put them into a bottle, and cork it 
tightly. When you want to use it, mix this liquid with suffi- 
cient finely-powdered rotten-stone to make a soft paste ; and 
with a coarse woollen cloth rub it on your shovel, tongs, poker, 
&c., or on the bars of your grate if you wish to brighten them. 
Having rubbed it on well, wipe it off with a soft cloth of linen 
or cotton, and then polish with dry potten-stone and a piece of 
leather. 

Another way to clean fire-irons is to rub them with a piece 
of flannel dipped first in oil, and then in emery powder of the 
quality called No. 3. Rub hard and quick, and then polish 
with a leather and some powdered rotten-stone. 

You can get emery powder at the iron stores or at the paint 
stores. The coarse is best for some purposes, the fine for 
others. 



BLACKING FOR STOVES.— Take half a pound of 
black lead finely powdered, and (to make it stick) mix with it 
the whites of three eggs well beaten ; then dilute it with sour 
beer or porter till it becomes about as thin -as shoe-blacking. 
Having stirred it well, set it over hot coals, and let it simmer 
for twenty minutes. When cold, pour it into a stone jug, cork 
it tightly, and keep it for use. It must be rubbed on the stove 
with a soft brush, and then polished off quickly with a clean hard 
brush, as you would a boot. It should be put on when the 
stove is cold, first removing the ashes, and then wiping off all 



FURNITURE, ETC. 217 

the dust with a cloth. Till it is quite dry tlo not sweep the 
hearth or replenish the fire. 

You may buy at the stores where stoves and grates are sold, 
or at the paint-stores, an excellent black varnish to be put on 
with a large bristle brush when the iron is cold. No dust or 
ashes must be allowed to get to it till the varnish is perfectly 
dry; otherwise you will have to do it all over again. Wash 
the brush afterwards, in spirits of turpentine, and then in 
warm water. 



TO PREVENT FIRE IRONS FROM RUSTING.— 

When you are going to put your fire irons away for the sum- 
mer, have ready some fresh mutton suet melted ; and while 
hot, smear it all over the irons. Next dredge or sprinkle them 
well with unslacked lime, powdered and tied up in a thin 
muslin rag. Then wrap them tightly all over in thick brown 
paper, so as entirely to exclude the air, securing the paper with 
twine. Keep them in a dry place; and previous to again 
taking. them into use, wipe them clean, first with old flannel 
and then with soft rags. 



TO TAKE RUST OUT OF STEEL.— Rub the steel 
well with a piece of flannel dipped in sweet oil. Then cover 
It with slacked lime, put it into a dry place, and let it rest foi 
two days. Afterwards wipe it clean, and then rub on some 
whiting finely powdered. Finish with dry whiting and a 
buckskin. 

Rust may also be removed from steel by rubbing on a mix- 
ture of sweet oil and emery laid on with a bristle brush, or 
with a bit of spongy green rod split fine at the end. Lei the 
eteel rest in the emery for two or three days, then wipe it off". 

19 



218 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

POLISHED IRON.— Polished iron work may be preserved 
from rust by going lightly over it with copal varnish, mixed 
with nearly an equal quantity of spirits of turpentine, and as 
much sweet oil as will give the mixture a little greasiness. 
Lay on this mixture with a bristle brush, (which must after 
wards be washed directly in warm water,) and see that no dua* 
or ashes gets to it while drying. The varnish may be obtained 
from a paint-shop or from a chair-maker's. 



TO CLEAN BRASS. — Dissolve in a pint of soft water an 
ounce of oxalic acid, (which is poisonous and should be wel) 
taken care of,) and keep it in a bottle labelled "Poison." 
Always shake it well before using it. Hub it on the brass wit\ 
a flannel, and then take a dry flannel to polish it. Use this . 
solution twice a week, and next day have ready some pulve- 
rized rotten-stone, sifted through a muslin rag, and mixed with 
oil of turpentine, so as to be liquid. Rub this on with a buck- 
skin, let it rest ten minutes, and then wipe it off with a 
cloth. 

Brass cleaned in this manner looks beautifully. 

For cleaning brasses belonging to mahogany furniture, either 
powdered whiting or scraped rotten-stone mixed with sweet 
oil, and rubbed on with a buckskin, is excellent. Let it rest a 
little while, and then wipe it well oflf, seeing that none of the 
mixture lodges in the hollows of the brass. In cleaning brass 
handles, hold the handle firmly with one hand, while you clean 
with the other, otherwise the handles will soon become loosened 
by the unsteadiness of the friction. Lay underneath an old 
newspaper, to catch the droppings. 

Oxalic acid being poisonous, care must be taken that none 
of the liquid gets into the eyes, when used for rubbing. Should 
this by any accident happen, immediately get a bowl full to 



FURNITURE, ETC. S19 

the brim of cold water, and hold the eyes open in it, till the 
pain abates; repeating it at intervals during the day. 

Holding the eyes open in cold water will frequently relieve 
Ihem from an engine spark, or a mote, or particle of any sub- 
stance that has flown in accidentally. Eye-glasses for this 
purpose are to be obtained at the apothecaries'. 

To remove the stain of oxalic acid from a dress, rub the spot 
with a sponge dipped in hartshorn diluted with a little water ; 
this will cause it almost immediately to disappear. 



CLEANING STAIR-RODS.— Pulverize some rotten-stone, 
and when the powder is made very fine, mix it with sweet oil. 
Then, with a woollen cloth, rub it well on each stair-rod. 
Polish with a soft buckskin, on which must be rubbed a little 
dry rotten-stone finely powdered. Any other brass may be 
cleaned to advantacre in this manner. 



CLEANING A BRASS KETTLE.~A brass, bell-metal, 
or copper kettle should always be cleaned immediately after 
using. Even when not used, it will require occasional cleaning ; 
oiherwise it will collect rust or verdigrease, which is a strong 
poison. 

To clean it properly, after washing it out with a cloth and 
warm water, put into the kettle a large tea-cupful of vinegar, 
and a large tea-spoonful of salt, and hang it over the fire. Let 
it get quite warm ; and then take it off, dip in a clean rag, and 
wash the whole inside of the kettle thoroughly with the salt 
and vinegar; after which, wash it w^ell with warm water. 
Next, take wood-ashes and clean rags, and scour it well. 
Afterwards, wash it with hot soap-suds, and finish, by rinsmg 
it with cold water, and wiping it with a dry cloth, both inside 
and out. 



220 THE HOUSE BOOK, » 

These kettles should be kept always clean, that they may be 
ready for use at any time they are wanted. So also should 
every vessel of brass or copper. 



PORCELAIN OR ENAMELLED KETTLES.— These 

kettles, which are of cast iron, lined all through with a coating 
of coarse white china, have now (in all places where they can 
be procured) superseded the use of bell-metal and brass for 
preserving and pickling, and for many nice purposes. They 
are more easily kept clean than any other vessels for cooking, 
and of course preclude all danger of rust from liquids or acids. 
Those of German manufacture are the best. It is well in every 
kitchen, to have several of these excellent utensils of different 
sizes, from a large preserving kettle down to a small saucepan. 
Great care must be taken, not to have a fierce blaze under 
them, or round them. This, however, is not necessary in that 
sort of cooking for which they are particularly useful. To 
guard against any accidental danger of the porcelain cracking 
by too hot a fire, it is well to toughen them (as the cooks call 
it) as soon as they are brought home from the shop. For this 
purpose, first wash your kettle well in warm water. Then fill 
it with equal quantities of bran and cold water, set it over a 
moderate fire, and let it continue on it half an hour or more after 
the mixture has come to a boil. Then take the kettle off the fire, 
and let it stand till the water is cold. Throw out this water, 
and repeat the process with fresh bran ; and after it has boiled 
sufficiently, take it off, and let it stand till next day. After 
which, throw out the bran, and wash the kettle well with clear 
warm water, and it will be fit for use. 

Always after using the kettle for preserving or pickling, give 
it a boiling with wood-ashes and water, and then wash it clean. 

It is said that any articles of new china or earthen are 



FURNITURE, ETC. 221 

rendered less liable to break, if, previous to using them, they 
are boiled, as above, in bran-water, which is considered to 
strengthen the glazing. 

TEA-KETTLES. — A tea-kettle should on no account be 
used for any other purpose than for boiling water. Some cooks 
have a foolish practice of always boiling their potatoes in the 
tea-kettle. Let this be positively forbidden, as it will give a 
peculiar and disagreeable taste to the tea-water that is boiled 
in it afterwards. The tea-kettle should be washed out every 
day, to remove the sediment deposited in it by the water. If 
this is neglected, it will become coated on the inside with a 
sort of dirty fur. Once a fortnight, at least, the kettle should 
be thoroughly cleaned, by scouring it first with sand or wood- 
ashes, and then with soap-suds ; rinsing it off with cold water, 
and wiping it dry. Wash well the inside of the spout. 

In boiling a kettle, care must be taken to put on the lid 
cl'jseir/, so as not to leave the smallest crevice. If the lid is in 
the least brok n or bent, it is best to get a new one ; otherwise 
the water is liable to be smoked and rendered unfit for use, 
communicating a most disagreeable taste to the tea. 

See that the water is actually boiling hard at the time it is 
poured on the tea; otherwise it will not draw out the strength, 
and the tea will taste weak and flat, however large the quantity 
put into the pot, which also should be previously scalded twice 

We do not recommend copper tea-kettles. The tin lining 

soon begins to wear off; and, if not renewed immediately, the 

copper will render the water extremely unwholesome, and the 

tea almost poisonous. To set on a chafing-dish or furnace, 

when the tea is made in the parlour, a bright block tin kettle 

will look sufficiently well. 

If you use an urn, the heater must be put into the fire about 

19* 



222 T n E II O U S E B O O K. 

a quarter of an hour before tea, and not taken out till it is red- 
hot. Then lift it with the tongs, and slip it into the cylinder ; 
the urn being previously filled with hot water from a boiling 
kettle. The inside of the urn (including that of the lid) should 
be washed out every day, and the outside wiped with a soft cloth. 



TO WASH TEA-THINGS.— For this purpose have a large 
tin or earthen pan, with warm water, and a clean, thick, soft 
towel, a yard long ; huckaback is best for this purpose. Put 
the saucers first into the water, wash them round in it, and then 
take them out, one by one, and turn them up to drain along the 
side of the japanned waiter. Do the same with the cups. 
Then wipe them all very dry. 

You will find it convenient to have near you, all the time, a 
hot kettle, for the purpose of replenishing the pan with clean 
warm water when necessary : and you may probably require 
two towels. 

When the cream-jug is empty, fill it with hot water, and lei 
it stand till you have done the cups ; then wash it. 

Having completely emptied the tea-pot, (and saved the tea- 
leaves in a jar, for the purpose of strewing on the carpets wher, 
about to sweep them,) fill it with hot water, and let it stand s 
while ; then rinse it round, pour out the water, and wipe th^ 
outside. If any tea-leaves are allowed to remain in it, thej 
will injure the taste of the next tea. 

If the tea-things are numerous, you will require clean warm 
water for the small plates, &c. Be careful to wash every ar'jck 
clean, and to wipe it dry, so as to leave no stickiness. 

Before throwing out the dirty water, put your hand dc.%M to 
the bottom of the pan, to feel if any tea-spoons are renif i^lng 
there. Tea-spoons are often lost by being carelessly tf.Towu 
out with the cup-water. 



FURNITURE, ETC. 223 

In washing tea-things, it is a great saving of the hands to 
use a little cup -swab or mop, such as are made by the society 
of Shakers, and are to be obtained wherever their wares are 
sold. Taking one of these by the handle in your right hand, 
and dipi>ing the woollen or thrum end into the water, you can 
wash the things very clean while holding them at the edgo. 
between the thumb and finger of your left hand. 



WASHING PLATES AND DISHES, &c.— Unless there 
is a regular boiler kept always on the kitchen fire, the cook 
should hang ona large pot of clean water at the time of every 
meal, as soon as she has sent in the dishes for the table, thai 
it may be hot when she is ready to wash them. Large deep 
baskets, lined with tin, are very convenient for the purpose of 
receiving the dirty plates to be carried into the kitchen. Con- 
veyed in this manner, they are much less liable to be broken 
than when piled on a tray or waiter : particularly if they are to 
be taken down stairs. 

For dish-washing there should be two tubs, one of hot water 
and one of cold ; also two large cloths and a thick clean towel. 
A wooden plate-rack, to stand them in, separately, while drain- 
ing, is a great convenience; otherwise they are generally 
drained by laying them bottom upwards, one a little over the- 
other, in the sink, which should previously be washed down, 
that it may be quite clean for the purpose. Unless the dish- 
water is very hot, the grease will not come off well, and the 
things will look smeared and feel sticky. Put the plates into 
the tub of hot water, and wash them first, using the dish-cloth 
to each, and putting each as you do it into the tub of cold water 
to finse. When the water becomes too grezfey, pour it out and 
replenish with fresh. Before you wash the dishes and sauctv 
boats, scrape off from them with a knife all the thickest of the 



224 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

grease into a deep plate, or something of the sort, from which 
you can transfer it afterwards to the receptacle for the soap-fat. 

While rinsing the things in ccld water, instead of your baie 
hand use a clean cloth that is quite free from grease. Then, 
having drained them well, wipe them dry with a clean thick 
towel, and place them on the dresser. 

Previous to washing the dishes, scrape off with a knife what- 
ever may adhere to the inside of the pots, pans, roasters, &c., 
that have been used in cooking the dinner ; and then pour hot 
water into all these utensils, letting them stand to soak while 
you are doing the other things. Afterwards, wash them out 
well with fresh hot water and the dish-cloth ; rinse them with 
cold water, and wipe the inside perfectly dry with a clean towel, 
which, if they have been properly done, will not be soiled during 
the process. The outside ,of each should also be washed and 
wiped. The bars of the gridiron should first be well scraped, 
then wiped with a dish-cloth dipped in hot water ; afterwards 
with cold water, and then wiped dry. 



PURIFYING SLOP-BUCKETS, JARS, &c.— To remove 
any peculiar or unpleasant smell from slop-buckets, jars, or 
other utensils, scald them with strong hot lye, filling them up 
to the top, and letting the lye remain in the vessel till cold. 
Repeat the scalding with lye, if necessary. Then fill them up 
with cold water, let them stand all day in the open air, and 
then wash them clean and wipe them dry. 

Or you may put the vessel half full of wood-ashes, and fill 
it up with boiling water. Let it stand till cold; then throw 
out the ashes, and repeat the process with fresh ashes and hot 
water, washing it*clean afterwards. 

After this process, if the vessel is of stone-ware, earthen, or 
china, turn it on its side and expose it a while to the hot sim. 



FURNITURE, ETC. 225 

If it is of wood or tin, fill it with cold water, and stand it all 
day in the air. 

The best and most durable buckets are those of tin, painted 
white on the inside, and green (or any other colour) outside. 
All tin buckets should helve covers. " 



TO REMOVE THE TASTE OF ROSIN FROM NEW 
TIN. — Take a hot live coal from a wood fire, or a piece of 
burning charcoal. Put the coal into the tin vessel, and shake 
it about a while. Repeat this, (if necessary,) with a fresh coal 
each time. Then wash out the vessel with warm water. 

Or boil in the tin some pot-ash melted in water. Afterwards 
wash out the vessel, and boil plain water in it. 



TO REMOVE THE TASTE OF NEW WOOD.— A new 

keg, churn, bucket, or other wooden vessel will generally com- 
municate a disagreeable taste to any thing that is put into it, 
particularly if of cedar. To prevent this inconvenience, first 
scald the vessel well with boiling w^ater, letting the water 
remain in it till cold. Then dissolve some pearl-ash or pot-ash 
in luke-warm water, adding a little bit of lime to it, and wash 
the inside of the vessel well with this solution. Repeat it, if 
necessary. Afterwards scald it well with plain hot water, and 
nnse it with cold before you use it. 

If you cannot conveniently obtain pot-ash or pearl-ash, you 
may season a new wooden vessel by scalding it repeatedly 
with hot lye, and afterwards with boiling water ; but this 
method, though frequently successful, is less certain than thf> 
former. 

Utensils of oak are far preferable to those of cedar. 

Wooden vessels should never be allowed to stand out of 
doors, unless they are full. If empty, the sun and air will 



226 THEIIOUSEBOOK. 

Bhrink the staves, open the seams, and loosen the hoops and 
bottoms, so that they will leak when used. 



TO SWEETEN AN OLD CASK.— Having first scalded 
it well with boiling water, (letting ihe water stand in it till 
cold,) fill it with cold water, and throw in a large quantity of 
live coals from a wood fire, leaving the cask uncovered. By 
repeating this, the cask may be made perfectly sweet, provided 
that it has at no time contained fish. A fish-barrel can never 
be used for any other purpose, as it is impossible to expel the 
taste and smell of the fish. 

Scalding an old cask repeatedly in strong lye, and then with 
clear water, will generally sweeten it. So will boiling water 
in which pot-ash and lime have been dissolved. 

Second-hand casks or kegs can frequently be purchased at a 
grocery or liquor store ; and if they have contained notliing 
that can give them a disagreeable taste, and are tight and in 
good order, they are preferable, for many purposes, to those that 
are new. 

Another way to sweeten a cask, is to melt some brim- 
stone, and dip into it a piece of coarse linen cloth. When 
cold, take a slip of the brimstone cloth about an inch broad, 
and five or six inches long, and having set fire to one end, put 
it in at the bung-hole ; fastening the other end under the bung, 
which must be driven in tight. The head of the cask must be 
on, that all the vapour of the sulphur may continue inside. 
Let it remain a few hours — ^then open the cask, and expose it 
t(7 the air. 



"Z^lf 



THE KITCHEN. 



REMARKS. 

As it is a self-evident truth that much of the comfort of a 
family depends on the kitchen, it is of great importance that 
the kitchen itself should be comfortable, and well supplied 
with every thing that is necessary for enabling the domestics 
to perform their work properly and expeditiously. Few good 
servants (cooks particularly) are satisfied to remain long in a 
place where they are denied these advantages. There are 
unfortunately too many houses where (while much expense is 
lavished on the drawing-rooms or parlours) the kitchen is bare 
and comfortless in its aspect, and scantily supplied with the 
utensils indispensable to the efficient execution of its business. 
At the same time, a good housekeeper will endeavour to 
impress on her domestics the necessity of taking care of all the 
articles provided for the convenient performance of their work, 
by keeping them clean, unbroken, and in their respective places. 
Unless she is blest with excellent servants, she will find 
herself unable to depend upon them, in this or in any other part 
of their duty, without frequent personal inspection from herself. 
Few nouses can go on well unless the mistress or her repre 
sentative visits the kitchen at least once every day, and that 
not always at the same hour. ^ 

We recommend that ladies going to house-keejing, should 
begin by first visiting the ironmongers, tinners, pottery-shops, 
basket-makers, biush-makers, and the stores where wooden 
ware is sold. So as to secure an ample supply of these arti- 



228 THE HOltE BOOK. 

cles SO indispensable to comfort and convenience, before they 
proceed to buying carpets, curtains, mirrors, mahogany furni- 
ture, fine china, &c. If they expect to retain good servants, 
and to have their work well done, they must allow a liberal 
supply of all things necessary for doing it. 



KITCHEN FURNITURE.— In furnishing a kitchen, we 
do not recommend that the floor be covered with a woollen 
carpet, whether woven of yarn or of strips of cloth. The grease 
that such a carpet cannot fail to imbibe in a place where cook- 
ing is done, is seldom attended to immediately, and perhaps 
not at all : and its stickiness collects and retains the dust. The 
consequence is, that the carpet (besides looking very dirty) 
soon acquires a disgusting and unwholesome smell, which 
pervades the atmosphere of the whole apartment. As it is far 
more difficult to sweep than a smooth floor, it is in all probabi- 
lity neither swept so often nor so thoroughly as cleanliness 
requires ; and (produced by its heat, grease, and dirt) cock- 
roaches not unfrequently accumulate round the edges and 
corners of a kitchen carpet. Also, all kitchen floors should be 
washed at least once a week in winter, and twice a week in 
summer. The best covering for a kitchen (as we have said 
before) is a coarse, thick, unfigured oil-cloth, painted all over 
of one colour, (for instance, dark red, blue, or brown,) and made 
to fit exactly. This is a carpet that has the advantages of being 
cool in summer and warm and dry in winter ; as it effectually 
covers the cracks of the floor, and excludes all dampness : and 
it requires no scrubbing ; nothing more being necessary than 
to wash it. oflf with cold water and a cloth. As a substitute for 
an oil-cloth, the floor maybe painted all over with several coats 
of common paint; yellow ochre being the cheapest, but slate 
colour the best. If the floor is used ioi soon after painting, the 



KITGJIEN FURNITURE. 229 

aint (not being sufficiently hardened and incorporated with the 
surface of the wood) will rub or scale oft'. It is also well to 
paint the kitchen stairs and passage. We do not advise oil- 
cloth for any stair-case, as its being somewhat slippery may 
cause persons to fall down, and not only hurt themselves, but 
break Avhat they are carrying. On a level surface, however, 
there is no danger of slipping on an oil-cloth. 

There should be a large kitchen tahle, chiefl}^ for the use of 
the cook ; and a smaller one for the domestics to sit round of 
an evening. If you have an ironing-board in the kitchen, it is 
best to have it fastened against the wall, (under the windows,) 
to be raised and let down with hinges, and, when wanted for 
use, supported by bracket-legs that can be drawn out from 
underneath. These are very convenient ; as, when not in use, 
they occupy little or no space. We have seen excellent 
kitchen settles, large enough to seat four persons, and having 
the appearance of a high-backed settee. The back can, when 
necessary, be extended outwards, so as to form an ironing-table ; 
and under the seat are drawers to contain the ironing-blanket, &c. 

If you have your ironing done in the kitchen, it will be well 
on ironing days (particularly in winter, when the sashes are 
closed) to avoid having any thing cooked that causes a power- 
ful smell. Also, to have no coffee roasted or batter cakes baked 
on that morning. The clean clothes will become so saturated 
with the odour of these things, that they will retain.it even after 
being put away in the drawers. A boiled dinner is every way 
most convenient for ironing days* 

There should be, in a well furnished kitchen, half a dozen 
common chairs, two low ones, and two or three wooden stools 
or crickets. A cheap rocking-chair would no doubt be consi- 
dered a great comfort for the cook to rest in, after she has done 

her work. 

20 



230 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

A cheap and convenient kitchen foot-stool may be made, by 
laying together four bricks, (two at the bottom, and two at the 
top,) and keeping them firm, by fastening tightly round tliem 
some strong tape or listing. Then cover the whole block of 
bricks, by sewing on it some coarse tow linen, and afterwards 
put on the top a thicker layer of shavings, straw, or southern 
moss, pressed down hard, like the stuffing of a pincushion. 
Then sew over the whole an outer covering of coarse carpeting. 
When completed, it will be a substantial and useful footstool, 
not easily overset. 

We do not recommend a looking-glass, as it is a temptation 
for the domestics to comb or arrange their hair in the kitchen. 
In houses w^here there is a kitchen looking-glass, hairs are fre- 
quently found in the dishes that come to table. All the comb- 
ing and dressing of the servants ought to be done in their own 
sleeping-rooms ; and it is best to give them no facilities of per- 
forming this business in any other part of the house. 

Listing the kitchen doors will produce much increase of 
comfort in winter. 

A kitchen with white-washed walls will look far more clean 
and light than if coloured with yellow-ochre. The windows 
(if in a cellar kitchen) should be secured on the outside with 
wire nettings, to prevent the entrance of rats from without. 
If the kitchen is built back of the house, it is well to have 
deep window curtains of domestic muslin, to prevent 
curious persons from looking in. On the inside of the door 
have, for general use, a wooden roller, with a coarse towel of 
crash or tow linen about three yards long, and sewed together 
at the ends. The roller should be taken down every morning 
and replenished with a clean towel. 

On a broad bench near the sink, keep one or two block tin 
basins, and a little tin soap-cup, to be convenient for washing 



KITCHEN FURNITURE. 231 

hands; a common-sized coarse towel hanging on a peg 
above. 

Let the sink be kept extremely clean ; and care should be 
taken that nothing goes down it that may cause any stoppage. 
Over it have nails on wliich to hangf the dish-cloths, &c. All 
water in which vegetables have been washed or boiled, should 
be thrown out at once; as, if allowed to stand, it will soon smell 
disagreeably ; cabbage in particular. 

It is well to keep a large boiler always on the kitchen fire, 
for the convenience of having hot water whenever it may be 
wanted. It should be furnished with a close cover, and with 
a cock for drawing off the water. This boiler should be used 
for water only, kept very clean, and washed and wiped out 
every morning. When water is taken out for use, let the boiler 
be replenished with more, so as to keep it always well filled. 

A hearth-brush (to hang on a nail convenient to the fire-place) 
should be allowed in every kitchen. Independent of its slo- 
venly and uncomfortable appearance, a littered, ashy hearth will 
communicate a portion of its dirt and ashes to whatever is 
placed upon it. Nevertheless, the hearth should not be swept 
when any uncovered cooking utensils are standing there. 

Neither should the kitchen floor be swept while dinner is 
preparing ; or, in short, when any eatables are about it. The 
best time for sweeping and dusting the'kitchen is early in the 
morning, immediately after the fire has been made ; (that, of 
course, being always the first thing done, as soon as the win- 
dows are opened ;) but if the breakfast hour is very early, the 
kitchen sweeping, &c., may be deferred till after the breakfast 
utensils are washed and put away ; and it should be brushed 
up again in the afternoon, when the dish-washing is completed. 

Do not clean candlesticks while the breakfast is about the 
fire, lest some of the grease should fall into the dishes. 



833 THE HOUSE SOOK. 

If you burn wood, you must have a bellows for the kitchen. 

The duties of the domestics (particularly those of the cook) 
cannot be regularly performed without a kitchen clock. It is 
well, before you make a final purchase of such an article, to 
take it a month on trial ; for if it does not keep time correctly, 
and if it is continually getting out of order, it will not be worth 
having, and cannot but prove a dear bargain, however low the 
original cost. Of wooden clocks, many are excellent ; others 
are complete frauds. In some families they have a kitchen 
watch. A clock is better ; for a watch is liable to accidents 
from falling : is frequently broken or put out of order by the 
meddling of servant boys, (if you have such;) and also it can 
be stolen and carried away very conveniently. 

We know an instance of a wooden clock, made in Connecti- 
cut, that seemed to go very well, except that it always stopped 
in nine hours after being wound up. On examination by the 
gentleman who had purchased it for his kitchen, it was found 
that a piece of shaving had accidentally lodged behind one of 
the wheels, probably in putting the clock together when finished. 
The shaving was removed, and the clock turned out an excel- 
lent one. 

A marble table for making paste soon defrays its cost by 
what it saves in the expense of obtaining pastry from the con- 
fectioner's. Paste that is tough and heavy is unfit to be eaten ; 
and without a marble table, or some extraordinary conveniences 
for coolness, it is difficult to make it light in warm weather. 
Also, whenever butter is made, a marble table is of great 
advantage for working, pressing, and dividing it after it comes 
from the churn. The cost of a new kitchen table with a marble 
top, is from twelve to fifteen dollars in Philadelphia. An old 
marble hearth, that has been taken up to be replaced by a 
now one, will make a very good top for a pastry table. 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 233 

Where the extent of the house will allow it, there is great 
Advantage in having a room in the lower part fitted up purposely 
for making pastry, cakes, sweetmeats, and other nice articles 
of like description. 

A marble mortar is the best for all purposes connected with 
cooking; being cool, lasting, easily kept clean, and incapable 
of imbibing any part of the substances pounded in it. The 
next best is a mortar of lignum vitaj, a wood that is very hard 
and durable. Mortars of white earthen composition-ware are 
easilybroken, and only fit for little things that are to be rubbed 
with the pestle rather than pounded. The common wooden 
mortara absorb much of the things that are pulverized in them, 
and are apt to communicate the taste of one article to another. 
Iron mortars lined with tin are cheap and very good. As soon 
as the tinning of the inside begins to wear off, it must irame- 
diiately be renewed at a tinner's ; otherwise every thing pounded 
in the mortar will turn black. 



•KITCHEN CROCKERY.— Brown earthen pans, both deep 
and shallow, and of diflerent sizes, are articles of essential use 
in all kitchens. Eggs should always be beaten in a shallow 
earthen pan, and butter and sugar in a deep one. Tin pans are 
inconvenient for these purposes, as the coldness of the metal 
prevents the things from becoming light. You will want large, 
tall earthen crocks for holding various articles of provision ; 
' each crock should have a cover: also coarse brown jugs, bowls, 
and dishes, to save better ones. Of white crockery, or common 
[[ueensware, you will require plates, dishes, and pitchers foi 
the use of the kitchen ; and probably pudding moulds and 
blanc-mange moulds : also cups, saucers, salt-cellar, pepper- 
box, &c., for the table of the domestics, and a few common 

glass tumblers. 

20* 



234 THE HOUSE book. 

Stone-ware also will be wanted for many purposes. It is 
exceedingly strong-, and there are few things that do not keep 
well in it. It is best, in buying stone jars, pots, and boxes, to 
get those that have handles and lids ; covers of the same ware 
beinar far better than corks. In consequence of the thickness 
of the ware, cold water will keep cool longer, and not water 
will keep warm longer, in a stone jug than in any other vessel. 
Its coolness may be increased in summer by wrapping round 
it a thick wet cloth, fastened securely. 



IRON WARE. — For an open fire-place you must have a 
crane and pot-hooks ; and you will require a nest of pots of 
different sizes, and a long iron fork to lift things out of them ; 
large and small gridirons; a frying-pan; one or two Dutch 
ovens, or iron bake-pans, as they are sometimes called; trivets; 
a skillet, or what is termed a spider, standing on legs ;" a 
waffle-iron; two griddles, if. your family is large, as warm 
cakes come in but very slowly when there is but one griddle to 
bake them on ; square iron baking-pans, for bread" and other 
purposes; ladles; a perforated skimmer; iron skewers; a 
toasting-iron to set before the fire ; a coffee-roaster ; a large 
tea-kettle, (which should be well tinned inside,) with a falling 
handle, that, if necessary, it may be boiled in a stove. Kettles 
fox preserving and pickling should be of iron, lined with porce- 
lain, or enamel, as it is sometimes called : those of brass or 
bell-metal ought never to be used for this purpose, as the action* 
of acids on them is poisonous, and has produced the most dele- 
terious and even fatal effects. Indeed, utensils lined with 
porcelain may be used to great advantage in every sort of 
stewing or boiling. Those of German manufacture are the 
best. Care must be taken not to have too fierce a fire in usinfr 
porcelain-lined vessels, or the lining will crack and scale oft'; 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 235 

iut with proper attention they will last many years, and arc 
more wholesome and more easily kept clean than any other 
cooking utensils. It is well to have small skillets and sauce- 
pans of porcelain. There are also large kettles of this descrip- 
tion for boiling hams, and others for fish. 

If copper vessels are used in a kitchen, they should be wel 
tinned on the inside ; and they will require new tinning at least 
once a year, or still more frequently if the tin appears to be ia 
the least wearing off. 

Portable furnaces (to be heated with charcoal) are better of 
iron than of clay, as they will last always, and are not liable 
to crack or get out of order. With these you may stew and 
boil, and make sweetmeats out in the yard. If used in the 
kitchen, a door or window must be kept open all the time, or 
the vapour of the charcoal will be suffocating. 

Coffee-mills that are made to fasten against the wall are far 
more convenient than those that must be held on the lap. 
There should be a mill purposely for grinding spices, &c.; as, 
if the same mill is used for both, the coffee will taste of spic^ 
and the spice of coffee. Spice should be ground a little at a 
time, accordingly as it is wanted. It is well to have a pepper- 
mill also. 

You will want some strong, stout knives and forks ; a kitchen 
cleaver for cutting through the bone of meat ; a chopper for 
mincing ; a steel for sharpening knives ; besides a whetstone, 
and a claw-hammer for driving and extracting nails. A box 
containing nails of different sizes, and a ball of twine, should 
be provided for every* kitchen. A pair of sugar-nippers are 
indispensable, for breaking small the loaf-sugar, after it has 
•>een cracked with a stout knife and a mallet or hammer. It 
should then be kept in a closely covered tin or wooden box 
There should be a box also for brown suaar. 



236 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Iron spoons for the kitchen are much belter than those jf 
pewter, as they neither bend nor break. Strips of leather, nailed 
along the edge of the dresser-shelves, are very convenient recep- 
tacles for spoons or similar articles that are in constant use. 



TIN WARE. — Of tins for preparing cookery you may have 
d3ep round pans of different sizes; large and small patty-pans 
for shells or empty paste ; pie-dishes of block tin vv^ith broad 
rims ; (the pastry to be removed from these dishes when cool, and 
transferred to china ;) cake-pans, some square and shalloAv, and 
some round and deep. For large thick cakes it is best to get 
pans with straight or perpendicular sides, as those that slam, 
inward (narrowing towards the bottom) are very inconvenient 
for a cake that is to be iced. Also, large cake-pans are best 
with a hollow tube in the centre, to admit the heat into the 
middle of the cake, that it may bake evenly all through. Have 
likewise two or three dozen small round or oval tins, for little 
cakes ; also a dozen muffin rings. You will want a covered 
tin vessel for keeping lard ; a butter-kettle, and a similar tin 
kettle for berries or small fruit ; a small block tin tea-kettle for 
small purposes, and a little block tin sauce-pan. A double 
block tin kettle, for stewing with all the water outside, is a 
useful contrivance. It consists simply of an inner kettle, about 
three or four inches each w.ay smaller and less deep than the 
Duter one, inside of which it is suspended by means of two 
small iron rings just below the rim of the smallest kettle, and 
tied with twine to two corresponding rings placed on the inside 
of the large kettle, about two or threg inches below the top. 
Both kettles have close lids, and falling handles over them. 
They are excellent for boiling puddings or custards ; stewing 
apples and other fruit ; making beef tea, &c. ; and are on the 
same principle as the utensil called a Bain Marie, so much 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 237 

employed in French cooking. The inner and outer kettles may 
De used separately. 

For roasting-, there is nothing better than what is commonly 
but absurdly called a tin kitchen. It may be well to have two 
of them, one large, and one small. 

You will want a cullender ; a fish-kettle; an eg-g-boiler; an 
egg-slice ; a pepper-box ; a dredging-box ; large and small 
graters. For spice-boxes, it is best to keep the different sorts 
of spice in small, separate, painted tin boxes, each with a tight 
fitting lid, and a handle to hang it by, to nails driven along the 
edge of a dresser-shelf; each box to have the name of the spice 
(as cinnamon, mace, nutmegs, cloves) painted on the side. 
These vi^ill be found more convenient than the large spice boxes, 
in which, notwithstanding the divisions, the spices are very 
apt to get mixed. Do not buy your spice ready ground, 
as when powdered, it loses its strength by keeping. You 
should by all naeans have a tin apple-corer ; a most useful little 
instrument, to be struck into the stem end or top of the apple, 
and turned round and round like a cork-screw; it will, in one 
minute, thrust out the core through the bottom, as smoothly 
and nicely as possible. A tin apple-roaster, to set before the 
fire, is also a useful thing. 

You will want a tin vessel, large enough to contain three or 
four gallons of lamp oil, and also large and small oil-cans for 
daily use; a lantern; broad-bottomed kitchen candlesticks oi 
lamps ; a candle-box ; a large and a small funnel for pouring 
liquids ; a sugar scoop, if you keep sugar in a barrel ; and a 
flour sc^.op, for the flour barrel. A set of tin mugs, (with Jipa 
or spouts,) to be used as measures, will be found very conve- 
nient; they may be six in number; a gallon; a two quart 
measure; one quart; a pint; half a pint; a jill; and half a 
jill. Have also a pair of scales with a set of weights. It ib 



238 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

well to have the scales perraanently hung to *small projecting 
bar or l)eam fixed in a convenient place ; for instance, at the 
end of the kitchen dresser, or on one of the store-closet shelves ; 
otherwise there will be much trouble, from the chains of the 
scales becoming twisted or unlinked, by frequently lifting them 
in and out of the scale-box. Without measures and scales, 
there can be little or no accuracy in the nicer branches of 
cookery ; particularly in making pastry, cakes, or sweetmeats.' 

Tin buckets, painted outside, are far better and more lasting 
than those of wood. There should be a tin dipper or ladle for 
the water. 

Kitchen candlesticks or lamps are best of strong block tin, 
and should have broad bottoms. 



WOODEN WARE— Of this, you will want tubs; buckets; 
large bowls or wooden pans for flour; sieves, large and small ; 
a beetle for mashing potatoes, turnips, &c. ; a meat beetle, 
for pounding steaks and chops to make them tender; two 
nickory egg-beaters, large and small ; a spaddle or round short 
hickory stick, flattened at one end, for stirring butter and sugar; 
a paste-board, for making pies ; a coffee-stick ; a mush-stick ; 
a clothes-stick ; and wooden spoons and ladles. 

If you make bread for a large family, a kneading trough 
will be of essential convenience ; and when not otherwise in 
use, it can form a table, by covering it with the lid. 

Flour buckets with lids are excellent for holding sifted flour. 
Every sort of meal would keep better, if removed at once from 
the barrel, (where it is always tightly packed,) sifted through 
a sieve, and distributed in covered buckets. This is a very 
common practice in the southern states, where the warmth of 
the climate frequently causes flour to spoil when this precau- 
tion is omjtted. If you do keep your flour in a barrel, let it be 



KITCHEN U T E N S I L S. 239 

constantly covered with a tight lid. Suet can be kept perfectly 
good for a week, by burying it in the flour barrel. 

Your salt-boxes and sugar-boxes should be of wood whh 
close covers. 

A large close-covered wooden box is very convenient for 
softening sweet cake that is not quite fresh. Shut up the cake 
closely in the box, and about an hour before tea, set it in front 
of the fire, (not so near as to scorch the wood,) and turn it 
round occasionally. This will soften the cake, and make it 
seem fresh. If the cake is large, slice it before you put it into 
the box. 



BASKET-WARE.— There should be a large market basket 
and a smaller one, and these should be kept very clean, wiping 
them always after using, and frequently washing them out 
with a wet cloth, and then putting them to dry. They will 
require occasionally scrubbing with a hand-brush, soap, and 
warm water, to get off the grease that the marketing will leave 
in them. Fish should be carried home from market in the 
hand, and not laid in the basket, or they w'ill communicate a 
taste and smell to the other provisions. If you use a basket 
for keeping the bread, let it be one with a cover, and see that 
the bread rt^hen put away in it, is always closely wrapped in a 
clean thick towel. 

Small hand-baskets are useful for eggs, and many other 
articles. 

It is well to have a bottle-basket with sockets, so that bot- 
tles may be carried in it standing upright, and without any 
danger of breaking. 

Demijohns (large bottles, covered with basket-work) are 
extremely useful in a kitchen or store-room, for holding vinegar, 
rno.asscs, &c. ; being less liable to accidents, than earthen, ot 



2<10 THE H0US1-: book. 

even stone jugs. Small demijohns, holding from a gallon to 
two gallons, are very convenient. 

For laundrj^-work you should have one or more large clothes- 
baskets, which should not be used for any other purpose. A 
basket with a lid or cover is useful for small muslins, <fec., 
after they are ironed, to preserve them from injury by dust or 
damp. 

An old champagne basket, kept in a kitchen closet, will be 
found a good receptacle for dusters and sundry other things. 

There should be a box or basket to contain all the things 
necessary for cleaning silver and other metal ; another for the 
articles used in cleaning mahogany furniture ; one for the lamp 
things, and one for those employed in cleaning knives, &c. 
Also a receptacle for the shoe-cleaning apparatus. It is well 
to keep in a box or a drawer nails of different "sizes, a claw- 
hammer, a small sawja gimlet, a screw-driver, and a ball of twine. 



KITCHEN CLOTHS.— Table cloths for the kitchen are 
generally made of unbleached cotton diaper ; but coarse linen 
or huckaback will eventually be found cheapest, as it wdll last 
much longer. There should be a sufficient number of kitchen 
towels of different sorts to suit different purposes. For instance, 
there may be half a dozen rolling towels of crash, or coarse 
thick linen ; a dozen smaller towels of the same quality, each 
being a yard in length j and a dozen towels of common thin 
linen diaper, for wiping glasses, china, &c. ' 

Pudding-cloths are best when of very thick linen, (for in- 
stance, Russia sheeting,) and made square. Dumpling-cloths 
the same, but smaller. Jelly bags are generally of white 
flannel ; when quite new, they must be well washed before 
usmg, to get out all the grease of the wool. They are made 
of a square of flannel, doubled like a half handkerchief, so as 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 241 

to De wide at ihe top and po'nted at the bottom ; the side being 
sewed up in a strong^ seam, and the top or mouth hemmed, 
with three tape loops sewed to it, by which, when in use, it is 
suspended to the legs of a table, or to a wooden frame made 
for the purpose. 

Scouring- flannels or rubbers should be strong and coarse. 
If made on purpose, it is well to hem them slightly all round, 
to prevent their ravelling. Do the same with new dusters, 
which are better of cotton than of linen, being softer. 

The cloths used in scrubbing the floor should be of thick tow 
linen or strong crash, and very large. Let them also be 
hemmed. The dish-cloths and pot-cloths may be less thick, 
but also of brown linen. Paint-cloths are best of soft old linen ; 
if new, they are apt to scratch the paint. Old towels, sheets, 
&c., come well into use as kitchen cloths. When dirty, let 
them be washed, and not thrown away, as of no farther account. 

All the above-mentioned articles should be kept clean and 
taken care of, always putting them away in their proper places. 
The clean towels, &c., may be deposited in the dresser-drawers. 

The cloths appropriated to the slop-buckets, &c., had best 
be of a different colour and material from the others, that they 
may be easily distinguished, and not used for any other 
purposes. 

Sponges are of great use in various sorts of cleaning. They 
should in all houses be provided for the purpose. To keep 
them soft and white, wash them in warm water with a little 
tartaric acid in it, and then rmse them- in cold water. Take 
care not to put in too much tartaric acid, as, if used to excess 
t will corrode the sponge. Choose sponges that are not gritty. 



BRUSHES, &c. — ^In most kitchens there is a large closet 
for the purpose of containing articles necessary for doing the 



21 



242 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

work ; and in this closet nothing eatable should be kept. It is 
well to have shelves in one part of it, and hooks or pegs in 
another. Of hair sweeping-brushes you will •«■ ant two ; one 
for the lower part of the house, and one for the upper ; besides 
another with a very long handle, for windows, cornices, &c. 
Corn or whisk-brooms will be necessary, and a birch-broom 
may also be useful for sweeping the cellar, yard, &c. Whisk- 
brooms, whether for sweeping floors or for brushing clothes, 
will last much longer, and can be used more effectively, if the 
twigs are prevented from sprawling out or spreading apart, by 
covering them halfway down with a sort of petticoat made of 
stout brown linen, or coarse, strong cotton. It must be fastened 
tightly round the bottom of the handle, where the twig or broom 
part commences, extending downwards about halfway, and 
must -fit tightly, so as to keep the twigs close and compact. 
We have seen- these covers very nicely made, with a hem at 
the bottom, and a case and drawing-string of tape at the top, 
so as to slip on to the whisk, and be tied round ; having the 
advantage of being taken off and washed when dirty. A tole- 
rable cover may be made for a broom by slipping over it part 
of the leg of an old woollen stocking, securing it round the 
bottom of the handle with a string. 

Short-handled brushes will be wanted for the stairs, for 
crushing bedsteads, for removing the dust from between the 
slats of Venetian shutters, and for many other purposes. All 
brooms and brushes used for sweeping will last much longer 
if, when not in use, they are hung up by a loop of twine or 
tape, passed through a hole drilled for the purpose near the top 
of tne handle. 

Also, before they are put away, let all the bits of flue, clip- 
pings, threads, &c., be picked off them. 

"Vou will, of course, want scrubbing-brushes with and with- 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 243 

out handles ; white-wash brushes ; stove-brushes ; shoe-brushes, 
and brushes for cleaning the various articles of furniture,. in- 
cluding silver. These should be kept in suitable places, 
and always washed before they are put away. One or more 
paint-brushes will be found very convenient in every house. 
After using, they should be soaked in spirits of turpentine to 
get off the paint, and then washed in warm soap-suds. 

Leathers for cleaning metal are indispensable. They will 
last longer, and be taken better care of, if of large size and of 
regular shape. They should be of buckskin ; or soft sheepskin, 
such as passes for the skin of the chamois goat, and is called 
shammy leather. These leathers can easily be washed with 
soap and water ; and this ought always to be done when they 
require it. 

REFRIGERATORS. — These are large wooden boxes, 
standing on feet, and lined with tin or zinc, being generally 
interlined with charcoal, and having at the bottom a receptacle 
for ice, and a drain to carry off the water that drips from it as 
it melts ; a vessel being always set underneath to catch the 
droppings. They are divided into compartments for the recep- 
tion of different articles of provisions, and furnished with movo 
ble shelves or slats on which to set the things. Duringr tlie 
warm season they must be every day replenished with fresh 
ice, wrapped in a piece of blanket to prevent its melting too 
fast. In a refrigerator, articles of provision may be kept from 
spoiling with much more certainty than when placed in a cellar 
or vault. They are conveniences which no family should be 
without. It is well to have two ; one for meat, &c., and the 
other exclusively for butter, cream, milk, and nice things made 
from the productions of the dairy ; as these are all very apt to 
imbibe a disagreeable taste if kept in the vicinity of provisions 



244 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

that are of a less delicate nature. We have «een in dinmg'- 
rooms handsome mahogany refrigerators, for the purpose of 
Keeping cool the wine and other liquors used for the table. 

Refrigerators must be kept very clean, wiping them out 
every day, and about once a week washing the inside thoroughly, 
and exposing them a while to the air with the lid left open, f^ 
refrigerator must on no account be kept in the kitchen, or in 
any place where there is fire. It may stand in the pantry, or 
in the kitchen entry. 



SAFES. — A safe is a movable closet, standing on feet ; the 
doors and sides being made of wire net, or of perforated tin. It 
has shelves inside, and is used for keeping cold meat, pies, and 
other articles left from the table. The safe should stand in the 
pantry or in the kitchen entry; the. kitchen itself will be too 
warm for it. They have the advantage of being inaccessible 
to mice. If your house is infested with ants, it will be weil 
not to place the safe near the wall, and to stand all its feet in 
tin cups of salt and water. The safe should be scrubbed out 
frequently, and then carried into the area or the yard, and 
exposed a while to the fresh air, with its doors open. 

In setting away cold meat, &c., always put a cover on the 
dish. Pitchers used for milk and cream should have coders 
belonging to them. They can be fitted with tin covers at a tin- 
store ; which are better than any others, as there is no danger 
of their breaking. Covered pitchers are also very convenient 
for keeping water warm, and for herb teas, barley-water, gruel, 
&c., in sick-rooms. 



FILTERING JARS. — In places where river water is used 
for drinking and cooking, a filtering jar is an article of great 
convenience, rendering the water more wholesome as well as 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 245 

more agreeable, by depriving of its impurities. River water 
(even that which is generally clear) always becomes more or 
less turbid in rainy weather, or when the ice breaks up ; and it 
is then in a very bad state for use. 

Filtering jars may be had in all places where stone ware is 
sold ; they should be kept in the cellar, and when the water is 
drawn out, they should be replenished, so as to keep them full. 
A very cheap and good contrivance for filtering, is to take a 
large garden flower-pot, and lay in the bottom a piece of 
sponge, so as to cover the hole. Upon this, put a few smooth 
clean pebbles, to keep the sponge in its place, and fill up the 
pot to within two or three inches of the brim, with a mixture 
of one part of powdered charcoal, to two parts of fine sharp 
sand. Then cover the top of the pot with a piece of clean 
white flannel, tied tightly round the rim with a twine, but so 
as to sink or sway down in the centre. Set the flower-pot into 
a pan or tub, and pour the water into the flannel, letting it filter 
through the charcoal, &c. ^ and by the time it has passed 
through the sponge, and come out at the bottom, it will be 
clear. 

THE CELLAR.— If you are under the necessity of keep- 
ino- articles of provision in a cellar, it should be partitioned off, 
or separated by a wall from that in which the fuel, &c., i.-* 
deposited. Great care is necessary in keeping the cellar clean, 
and free from every thing that has a powerful smell. A barrel 
of salt fish placed in the cellar will frequently pervade the 
whole house with- its odour, and impart a fishy taste to every 
article of food that may be kept there ; also by rendering the 
air impure, it will cause them to spoil very soon. Milk or 
butter kept in the same cellar with a fish-barrel, acquires a 
very disagreeable taste, and is indeed unfit for use. In a town, 

21* 



246 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

where salt-fish can always be purchased in small quanfi^ie'? for 
immediate use, it is best to keep no fish-barrel at all ; as the 
smell is generally more -or less diffused through the lower par* 
of the house, and will be very perceptible to visiters, thougl 
custom may prevent the family from noticing it. 

If you keep a barrel for pig-slop, either in the cellar or is 
the yard, see that it is emptied daily, and the contents carried 
away; otherwise, it will, certainly cause a very oifensive and 
unwholesome smell. In warm weather, the slop-barrel should 
not be kept near the kitchen, but in an out-house, or in the most 
remote part of the yard. If you have pigs of your own, keep 
no slop-barrel at all, (particularly in summer,) but let the 
refuse of the kitchen be thrown into an old tub or bucket, and 
carried to them at once. 

By carefully stopping all the holes and crevices, and by 
keeping the windows of your cellar carefully closed, particu- 
larly after sunset, you may prevent the ingj^ess of rats and mice 
from the neighbouring houses. For this reason, the windows 

DO ' 

should be protected by close nettings of thick iron wire; as, if 
there are only bars, these destructive animals can easily slip in 
between. We have seen in a public street, and in broad day- 
light, a rat going into a cellar through the iron bars of the 
window. 

Cabbages and other vegetables may be kept all winter in a 
cellar, by burying them in earth or sand. 

A cellar, like all other places belonging to a house, should 
be kept clean ; for no impurity can be allowed to remain there, 
without causing an offensive effluvia, and endangering the 
health of the family. The floor, whether of clay or stone, will 
require frequent sweeping with a coarse broom, and all the 
contents of the cellar should be arranged in good order, and 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 247 

not allowed to stand about in the way of every one that enters 
the place. 

In a fuel cellar, the/e should be receptacles for the ashes, 
and for the dust collected in sweeping the house. In most 
cellars, there are cavities made for the purpose, and called the 
ash -hole, and the dust-hole. Besides the coal and wood, here 
are kept the charcoal barrels ; the cinder-sieve ; the coal- 
scuttles, when not in immediate use ; the fire-pan, for carrying 
live coals that are wanted for kindling ; the saw, and the wood 
axe. Each of these things should of course have its appro 
priate place. The business of knife-cleaning, and of boot- 
cleaning, is sometimes performed in the cellar, if it is light 
enough for such purposes. A cellar closet is a great conve- 
nience, as many things can be kept there that are not exactly 
proper for the kitchen closets. 



HYDRANTS AND PUMPS— To prevent a hydrant in 
the yard from freezing, cover it closely, as soon as the cold 
weather sets in, with straw above and below, leaving nothing 
exposed but the handle and the spout, and lay over the top 
several folds of old carpet or coarse blanket. A hydrant will 
be less likely to freeze, if care is taken, after drawing water 
from it, always to turn the handle back, as far as it can possi- 
bly go. This caution should be impressed on the servants. 

If you have a pump, you may prevent its freezing, during 
the night, by setting the handle as high as it will go. It is 
well, afso, to cover the pump as much as possible with straw 
and old carpet. In the north, we have ^en pumps screened 
from the cold, by a roof or shed built over them. 

If the hydrant or the pump should freeze, you may thaw it, 
by pouring on a kettle full of boiling water, round the handle 
and the spout. 



248 THE HOUSE BOOR. 

'v. 

In cities sufficiently south for fig-trees to grow in the open 
air, they will thrive beautifully if in the immediate vicinity of 
a garden hydrant. The finest fig-trees we ever saw in America, 
were planted one on each side of a yard hydrant in the most 
central part of Philadelphia. They grew to an unusual height, 
produced a continual succession of figs, and their foliage 
always remained green and luxuriant, till late in the autumn. 
Grape-vines planted on the hydrant-side of the garden, will 
generally produce finer fruit, and in greater abundance, than on 
any of the other walls. 



STORE-ROOMS. — It is a great convenience (in the country 
parti(5ular]y) to have two store-rooms ; one of them not far 
from the kitchen; the other in the vicinity of the dining-room. 
In one, you can keep tea, coffee, chocolate, sugar, flour, rice, 
soap, candles, &c. ; all which articles, there is great economy, 
as well as convenience, in buying by the quantity, particularly 
if the family is large. In this store-room should be kept scales, 
weights, and measures ; the scales fixed permanently to a 
beam 

Smoked tongues, hams, and dried beef may be kept here, 
sewed up in white-washed cloths, "and suspended on hooks to 
the ceiling. Hanging shelves are very useful in a store-room 
Great care should be taken to keep out rats, mice, and cock- 
roaches. 

The other store-room may be smaller, and appropriated to the 
pickles, sweetmeats, cakes, &c., that may be used in the 
family • also sweet^wines, cordials, syrups, and other articles 
of like description Here may be kept the utensils for making 
blanc-mange, ice-cream, and, confectionary of various de- 
scriptions.- 

It is well to have all the jars labelled with the names of the 



KITCHEN UTENSILS. 249 

things contained in them, that wrong ones may not be opened 
by mistake. Here should be kept a large spoon and a fork for 
lifting out the pickles, and another spoon and fork for the 
preserves. Also a towel, for wiping up any juice or vinegar 
that may chance to drop. 

This store-room must be well furnished with shelves. And 
it is very convenient to have a small table in the centre, to set 
lli.ngs on wiien ycu take them down. 



250 



THE DINING-ROOM, &c. 



If the dining-room is adjoining^ to the kitchen, much trouble 
of opening and shutting- the door, and going out and in, may 
be saved, by making in the partition between the two apart- 
ments, a square window with two shutters, one on each side; 
the shutter that opens into the dining-room to be painted or 
papered to correspond with the wall, so that when closed, it 
may be scarcely perceptible. On the kitchen side, the window 
should have two very broad shelves, on which to set the dishes, 
&c., that are handed in and out through it. 

When the dining-room is up stairs, and immediately over 
the kitchen, a dumb-wniter closet will be found a great conve- 
nience. This is a long deep closet, made in the wall, and de- 
scending from the dining-room to the kitchen, with a door into 
each. Inside of this closet, is a tier of broad square shelves 
one above another, and connected by a frame. This tier of 
shelves is raised and lowered by means of a pulley and a 
strong rope, with a loop or handle at each end. On these 
shelves, the cook places the dishes, and they are drawn up by 
the servant that waits on the table, and let down when done 
with. Each shelf of this apparatus is surrounded by a rim or 
ledge like a tray. A contrivance of this kind saves much time 
and trouble in carrying the things up and down stairs, and 
lessens the risk of breakage. 

If there is no convenient pantry, a large closet is indispcn- 
able to a dining-room. Two small side-boards, one in each 



THE PANTRY, ETC. 251 

recess, occupy loss space than a large one standing out, and 
are therefore preferable, unless the dining-room is very spacious 
and expensively furnished, so that an elegant side-board may 
be classed among its ornaments. 



THE PANTRY. — The pantry is a small apartment, either 
adjoining to the dining-room or very near it, in which it is very 
convenient to wash the china and glasses, to arrange the cas- 
tors, clean the silver, &c. It should be fitted up with shelves 
for holding the glass and china, or, what is still better, with a 
sort of dresser, havinjj closets above and drawers beneath. The 
plate should either have a closet to itself, or be kept in drawers 
lined with green baiise. We have seen a plate closet of iron, 
let into the wall of a pantry, and opening by a sliding door, so 
constructed as to be- imperceptible to strangers. In some fami- 
lies all the plate is locked up every night in an iron chest, the 
key being kept hj the master of the house. 

In places wheio there is an abundance of water, (as in Phi- 
ladelphia,) it is not unfrequent to have it brought by a pipe 
into the pantry, not only for the convenience of washing the 
articles contained there, but to afford a supply to all that part 
of the house. Under the spout of the pantry water pipe, in a 
handsome house, we have seen the sink or drain lined with 
marble instead of lead or zinc. In wniter it is well to have the 
pantry made comfortably warm by an iron drum or somethinji 
of that sort. Here should be kept the knives, forks, crMmb- 
cloth, table-cloths, napkins, waiters, trays, plate-warmer, dish- 
mats, cork-screws, wine-coolers, and every thing necessary for 
settinor the table. 



THE CASTORS.— Attention should every day be given to 
the caslors, to see that they are clean ^nd in proper order, and 



252 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

that there is no deficiency of any of the articles contained m 
the cruets. It is a good rule to fill them up daily. The cay- 
enne should be shaken and stirred up to the bottom every day, 
as it is apt to get into solid masses; and the cover of the bottle 
should be examined, to see if the holes are not clogged and 
stopped up with the pepper, which in that case must be removed 
by poking it out with a large pin or with the prong of a fork. 
The vinegar cruet must also be inspected, to see that its con- 
tents are not cloudy. Vinegar by long standing will collect a 
mouldy sort of slime, commonly called the mother. It should 
then be emptied out, and the bottle well washed. Much of the 
vinegar now sold in the stores is adulterated with vitriol, tar- 
taric acid, or some other ingredient, of which a small quantity 
will give a strong degree of sourness, but at the same time 
rendering the liquid so corrosive as to be unfit for use. We 
have seen oysters that, from being pickled with this pernicious 
vinegar, were eaten into holes by it before they were cold, all 
of them dissolving by next day into imperceptible particles. 
Pickles also are destroyed by it in the same manner ; and of 
course its eflfects on the human system must be highly delete- 
rious. It is safest to try a small quantity first, and if you find 
it of the above description, send back what you have bought; 
or at least do not, on any consideration, use it. We believe 
that Underwood's best pickling vinegar may be safely depended 
on. Families that live in the country will find it most conve- 
nient to make their own vinegar. 

Salad oil, when not fresh, acquires a very unpleasant taste. 
VA'^hen this happens, it need not be thrown away after removing 
it from the cruet, as it may be saved for the mixtures used in 
cleaning furniture, &c. Do not mix much mustard at a time, 
PS the fresher it is the better. Never leave the spoon in the 
mustard after dinner, nor the salt-spoons in the salt, or they 



THE PANTRY, ETC. ^'^S 

will spot and canker ; but take them out and wash them whri 
you do the other spoons. Also, empty out the salt-cellars and 
wipe them clean. When you fill them, smooth the salt very 
nicely on the top. Salt must be kept perfectly dry, for if damp 
it will be moist and discoloured. Use only the best; its cost 
is not much, and thure is no real economy in buying salt of infe- 
rior quality. 

In some castors are bottles for powdered loaf-sugar; but the 
most usual way of bringing this condiment to table is in a small 
glass or silver bowl, with a perforated ladle for dipping it out 
and sprinkling it on. After powdering, let it always be 

sifted. 

If the stopper of a cruet is lost or broken, it should at once 
be replaced with a new one ; besides that, if left open, the con- 
tents will spoil, a castor with defective bottles looks very badly. 

A table large enough for fifteen or twenty persons will 
require two castors. 

There are castors purposely for anchovy, soy, catchup, and 
other fish-sauces. They contain either four or six handsome 
bottles, all labelled. We consider this a much nicer way of 
bringing fish-sauces to table than the common one of introduc- 
incr them in the coarse black bottles in. which they are put up. 



TABLE-MATS.— A set of table-mats (of which the India 
are the best) are indispensably necessary, to prevent the heat 
of the dishes from leaving white marks on the table. The low- 
priced mats of checkered straw wear out or break to pieces so 
soon, that they are not worth buying. We have seen very good , 
and durable substitutes for India mats, made of thick oil-cloth, 
cut into an octagon shape and of different sizes, lined under- 
neath with green baize or with stout woollen cloth, and bound 
ound the edge with worsted ferret. The oil-cloth lor this 



22 



254 THE HOUSE BOO K. 

purpose looks best to be of only one colour ; for instance, 
shaded green or shaded brown. 

Little stands for tea-cups may be made in th*s manner. 



KNIFE RESTS.— There should be a pair of these placed 
at each end of the table, at the sides of the two principal dishes, 
for the purpose of receiving the knife and fork when the carver 
lays them down, instead of putting them into the dish. They 
are sometimes of china, corresponding with the dinner set, and 
very frequently of silver. 



BUTTER KNIVES.— Beside each butter plate should be 
placed a knife, as no person accustomed to genteel society will 
help himself to butter with his own knife. There are knives 
with silver blades made expressly for this purpose. They are 
best with silver handles; as those of mother-of-pearl are very 
liable to break, or come off. 



FINGER GLASSES.— These are generally blue or green, 
and are filled with wat^^r and set round the table, just before 
the cloth is removed, for the company to dip their fingers in, 
rubbing them with a slice of lemon or an orange leaf, that is 
put into each glass for the purpose. Every ^lass is placed 
on a folded doily. The disgusting European custom of taking 
a mouthful or two of the water, and, after washing the mouth, 
spitting it back again into the finger glass, has not become 
fashionable in America. Neither is it usual in our country to 
place tooth-picks on the table for the benefit of the company ; 
most gentlemen preferring to pick their teeth and wash theii 
mouths in private. 



THE PANiRY," ETC. 255 

. TABLE-LINEN.— If the circumstances cf the family will 
allow the expenditure, it is advisable always to get the table- 
linen of the best quality ; as that which is fine and thick will 
last much longer and look much better than if comparatively 
coarse and thin. There is nothing of the sort superior to tlic 
best double French damask ; it being not only fine and thick, 
but. soft and glossy, like satin; and it looks as well after wash- 
ing as before. The appearance of all table-linen is improved 
by being mangled in a machine, instead of ironing. A table- 
cloth ought to be considerably larger than the table, so as to 
hanof down all round. 



NAPKINS. — There are few genteel families w^ho are not in 
the practice of using napkins at table, to spread on the lap 
while eating, and for wiping the mouth and the fingers. The 
best size is about three-quarters square. It is now more cus- 
tomary to hem the napkins than to ravel them into a fringe. 
If fringed, they must be afterwards whipped with a needle and 
thread, to secure them from ravelling still farther. Napkins 
with coloured borders look less genteel than those that are all 
white. The fine French double damask are the best and hand- 
somest, and will last twice as long as any others. For a dinner 
party it is customary to place the napkins on the table, nicely 
folded in squares or diamonds, of which there are a variety of 
ingenious forms. But when the family dine without company, 
or with only two or three guests, the napkins are usually folded 
square, and then rolled up tightly and slipped into a ring of 
silver, ivory, ebony, or box-wood. These rings are generally 
numbered or lettered ; and care should be taken to place the 
napkin of each person in his own ring. 

All table-linen should be marked in full with the whole 
name of the family. 



256 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

DOILIES. — These are small napkins intended for wiping 
the fingers after eating fruit, and are placed round the table for 
that purpose. They are very generally of coloured cotton, 
with a border ; the colours are dark, that the stains may not be 
conspicuous on them. Unless they are Avashed very frequently, 
they acquire a rather unpleasant smell, and are not agreeable 
to use. We think it best to have white ones, as they are much 
nicer, and the stains can easily be removed from them. Doilies 
are always fringed. 

SETTING THE DINNER TABLE.— Before you begin 
to set the table, see that every thing is ready and in good order; 
so that, after you once commence, you may not have to quit for 
the purpose of making something clean, or of remedying some 
inconvenience. If in winter, first see that the fire is good, and 
the hearth clean, and the plates set before it in the plate-warmer. 
In summer, if there is to be wine, attend in proper time to put- 
ting the bottles into the cooler, heaping round them pieces of 
ice. Also have ready, in one or more small glass dishes oi 
saucers, a sufficiency of bright clean ice, broken into small 
bits, (with a dessert spoon in each dish,) for the purpose of 
using while at table to cool the glasses of wine or water. 

Cut the dinner bread into thick oblong pieces or blocks; as 
it is not customary to slice bread, except for breakfast and tea ; 
and take care to have enough in the bread-basket to, supply all 
the persons at table with a second piece, if required. It is 
extremely awkward to be obliged to replenish the bread-basket 
in the midst of dinner, some of the company, perhaps, waiting 
for it in the mean time. Every thing may be so arranged 
before-hand that the waiter will not have occasion to leave the 
room durmg the progress of the dinner. 

First lay down the cramb-cloth ; and then, if there is a 



SETTING THE DINNER TABLE. 257 

woollen cover on the dining-table, remove it before you put on 
the linen cloth, which must be laid smoothly and evenly, so as 
not to hang down more on one side than on another. Bring m 
the things (as many at a time as you can) on your tray. Set 
your plates round the table, one for every person, but place them 
at the sides only, except those that are intended for the master 
and mistress of the house, who of course occupy the two ends, 
and will not be able to carve so conveniently if any one is 
seated beside them. 

It is always better to have too much space than too little ; 
and it is therefore advisable to set a table rather too large for 
the company, than one that is in the least too small. We have 
seen a whole dinner party made uncomfortable all the time, 
from being crowded at a table of insufficient size ; and in warm 
weather, particularly, this is no trifling inconvenience. 

Having set round the plates, lay a knife and fork in front of 
each ; and if there is soup, a spoon; also setting a soup plate 
on each of the flat ones. At each corner of the table lay two 
spoons across, and put other spoons wherever dishes are to be 
set. Have a salt-cellar at each corner, between the bowls of 
the crossed spoons. In some houses it is customary to keep 
the castors on the side-board, to be handed by the waiter as 
they- may be required. This we think inconvenient, particularly 
where there are but one or two waiters, and eight or- ten persons 
at table. We see no very reasonable objection to having the 
cantors on the dining table. If there are two sets of castors, 
pkce in the middle of the table the salad bowl or the celery 
glass ; unless there is company to dinner, and the centre, per- 
haps, is occupied by a plateau, an epergne, a vase of flowers, 
or some other ornament. 

If there are to be two large dishes, place a carving knife and 
fork, and a large gravy spoon, for each. For soup, place the 

22* 



2 58 T H E II U S E B K. 

soup-ladle at the head of the tabic. For fish, lay the fish-knife 
at the foot. Also knives, forks, and spoons for the side dishes. 

At the right hand of every plate place a tumbler, and one or 
more wine-g-1 asses, according to the variety of wines that are 
to be brought to table ; it being customary to drink differenl 
wines out of different sorts of glasses ; the fashionable glass 
for each wine varying so frequently, that it is difficult in this 
respect to give any rules. The decanters are to stand near the 
corners. It is now usual at many tables to have a small water- 
bottle (holding about a pint) placed by the side of every plate, 
that each person may pour out water for himself. Neverthe- 
less, there should always be water-pitchers on the side-table, 
to replenish the bottles w^hen necessary, whether large or small 
ones are used on the table. In summer, when fillinor the 
pitchers, put two or three lumps of ice into each. 

At the right hand of every plate put the napkin and the bread, 
taking each piece out of the bread-basket with a fork. At 
dinner-parties it is usual to have each napkin nicely folded in 
a diamond or other form, and the bread laid in the centre, 
covered by one of the corners. On such occasions it is very 
customary to have light French rolls instead of pieces of cut 
bread. 

On the side-table place a waiter or tray for receiving the 
dish-covers, plates, dishes, &c., that are removed from the table 
after using. Also a knife-basket. It is a good custom to keep 
there always at dinner-time (as mentioned in a former page) a 
large can or mug of painted block tin, filled with hot water, in 
which to plunge the blades of the knives as they are taken from 
table, that the grease may not have time to dry on them. To 
wipe a knife or fork and return it to the table, is not an agree- 
able custom ; as, without a regular cleaning, they will always 
emell and taste of the things for which they have just been 



SETTI NG' THE DINNER TAULE. 259 

used of fish, cheese, or onions, particularly. In all families 
that are able to live genteelly, there should be a sufficiency, of 
knives, forks, &c., to afford fresh clean ones as often as tlu 
plates are changed. It is well, even in small private families 
to have on the side-table some extra plates, knives, glasses, 
&c., in case of a friend coming in unexpectedly, and consent 
ing to sit down and take dinner ; this will preclude the neces- 
sity of sending a servant out of the room to bring them ; 
besides which, they will be at hand, in case they may acci- 
dentally be wanted for other purposes. 

The side-board is the place for the extra bottles, glasses, 
silver, china, fruit, &c., that may be required at the dessert, or 
after the cloth is removed. These articles may be so disposed 
on the side-board as to make a very handsome appearance, 
particularly when it has a marble top, and is lighted up for an 
evening dinner-party. The side-board is also the place for 
handsome water-pitchers, finger-glasses, and silver waiters. 

When dinner is ready, bring in your dishes on the tray, set- 
ting it down on the tray-stand. Each dish should have a 
cover. If there is soup, set the tureen at the head of the 
table, to be helped by the mistress of the house ; and if there 
is fish also, place that at the foot of the table. Should there 
be only one of these articles, put it before the lady's seat, and 
place the largest dish of meat or poultry at the bottom. Set 
the side dishes opposite to each other ; and in arranging the 
vegetables, do not place together those that are most similar. 
For instance, do not put peas and beans next to each other ; 
or sweet potatoes and white potatoes ; or parsneps and carrots ; 
or squashes and mashed turnips. It would be still worse, 
when there are two dishes of each vegetable, (as is generally ^he 
case at a large table,) to place together both dishes of asparagus, 
or both disfies of cauliflower. They should be made to match 



260 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

cross corners, (as it is called,) placing one on each side of the 
table, not directly opposite, but diagonally or slanting. 

Attempts have been made to introduce the English fashion, 
of keeping all the vegetables on the- side-table, the waiters 
bringing each one separately to the table, as it may be asked 
for by any person that wishes it, and then carrying it back 
again. We think this custom too tedious and too troublesome 
to become very general in America. Unless the waiters are 
very alert, and amply sufficient in number, it is well not to give 
them any unnecessary addition to their indispensable business. 

Before dinner, let the cold pastry be placed in the side-board 
closet, that it may be at hand when wanted for the table ; or 
else, if the pantry is close to the dining room, it may be set out 
there, covering it with a clean cloth to keep the flies from it. 
Covers of fine black wire net are very useful for fruit and 
sweetmeat dishes. 

Boiled puddings are always eaten warm, and should not be 
taken out of the pot, till a few minutes before they go to table. 
When the family are nearly ready for the pudding, the waiter 
should ring the bell into the kitchen, and the cook will send 
some one, or come herself, to meet him with the pudding, at 
the dining-room door. 

In placing the dishes, see that they are all set perfectly 
straight and even, and that each has near it the proper sauce 
or gravy. Afterwards arrange the chairs round the table ; and 
if it is winter, put the chair-screens, if you have them, on those 
that are nearest the fire. If it is summer, see that the sashes 
are raised, and the Venetian blinds drawn down, turning the 
slats, so as to make the room sufficiently light. Then give 
notice that dinner is ready, either by ringing the dinner-bell, 
sounamg the gong, as may be the custom of the family ;- or by 
opening the drawing-room door, and advancing a little towards 



WAITING ON TABLE. 261 

the lady of the house, and bowing to her. This last is th« 
most usual mode of announcement when there is company t/ 

dinner. 

If the dinner is in the evening, see that the lamps, candles 
&c., are all in good order before you place them on the table 
The table should be very well lighted, particularly at a dinnei 
party. If the dinner is to commence in daylight, and it is so 
late in the afternoon that there is any possibility of its being 
protracted till after sunset, it is best to close the windows and 
light the candles at once ; as it is extremely uncomfortable to 
have the company overtaken by the gloom of twilight, and 
obliged to wait almost in darkness while the lights are prepar- 
ing. See also that the entry lamp, stair lamps, &c., are lighted 
in early time ; so that the guests may have no difficulty in 
finding their way, and that the servants may not be liable to 
break things by stumbling with them in the dark. 



WAITING ON TABLE.— When attending on table you 
should always be clean and neatly drest; as nothing, at such 
a time, is more disgusting than a greasy, slovenly, shabby- 
looking waiter. A good waiter, who has a proper respect foi 
himself and his employers, will always put on a clean collai 
before dinner, and a clean white apron ; taking care that nfi 
part of his dress is either dirty or ragged. If he is i)rudent and 
sober, his wages will easily enable him to wear decent clothes 
on week-days as well as on Sunday. There are domestic^ 
(woiM-n as well as men) who do not scruple to go about the 
house, and appear before the family and their visiters, almos* 
in the garb of beggars, while all their money is saved for the 
purchase of holiday finery. Against this disrespectiu. and 
revoltmg practice the head of the family should at least try tha 



262 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

effect of remonstrance ; for if passed over or connived at, it will 
grow into an absolute nuisance. 

For a waiter, while engaged in his business, a round jacket 
is more convenient and appropriate than a long coat ; and in 
summer his clothes should be of materials that will wash. 
Shoes are more convenient for him than boots, as they are less 
nois}'^; and being lighter, he can move about in them with more 
alertness. Presuming it to be a clean one, his shirt-collar 
should always appear above his cravat when drest for waiting 
on table ; as the want of something white about the neck v/ill 
give any man (even a gentleman), a dingy and dirty appearance. 
When attending at dinner, he should have on his hands a pair 
of clean white cotton gloves ; alwajj's, at least, if there is com- 
pany. Ha should never wait at table without a small server 
in his hand, on which to receive or carry round plates, knives, 
vegetable dishes, the bread-basket, and whatever may be 
wanted ; and in the other hand he should hold a napkin, with 
which to take hold of the plates, &c., when changing them. 
Whether he has gloves on or not, the napkin ought on no 
account to be omitted ; and he should hold the plate by the 
edge of the rim only. We have seen the rim of a plate very 
disagreeably marked by the thumb of a dirty-handed waiter, 
who had no napkin. 

The master of the house will, before dinner, have given you 
his orders respecting the wines. 

After you have announced the dinner, and held the door open 
till the company have all gone into the dining-room, shut it, 
(unless in summer,) and after they are seated, take dSt the 
covers of the soup or fish ; and, till these are done with, leave 
the other dishes covered. W^hen the soup and fish are removed, 
uncover the other things, beginning at the bottom dish on the 
left-hand side. In taking off the covers, turn them up quickly. 



WAITING ON TABLE. 203 

that the drops of greasy steam on the inside may not fall on the 
table-cloth. Deposit them for the present in the tray, till there 
IS an opportunity of carrying them out. 

If you are the only waiter, take your station at the bottom 
of the table, about a yard from the person that is carving, and 
a little to the left of his chair : this will give you an opportu- 
nity of seeing what is wanted, much better than if you stood 
exactly behind him. If there are two attendants, the second 
should place himself in the same manner near the lady of the 
house. If there are four, two should stand at the sides of the 
table ; not exactly opposite to each other, but one rather nearer 
to the top, the other somewhat nearer to the bottom. All 
should be drest as nearly as possible alike, and every one 
should have a white apron, white gloves, a small server or 
hand-waiter, (which is frequently of silver,) and a napkin. 

Go first to each of the ladies, and in a low voice inquire what 
you shall bring them. After they are all helped, attend to the 
gentlemen. When you hold a plate to the carver, stand at his 
left-hand ; and when you take it to the person for whom it is 
intended, go to the left side also. Hand nothing to any one 
without first placing it on your small server ; and always go 
to the left side, except when you are filling a glass with water, 
cider, or beer ; then go to the right, as the tumbler stands on 
that side ; and be careful that you do not pour it too full, so as 
to run it over and wet the cloth. 

After every one has been helped by the carvers, take the 
vegetable dishes, two at a time, on your hand-waiter, and carry 
them round to' each of the company. If the attendants are 
alert, and sufficient in number, there will be no occasion for 
any persons at table to offer, or to require being helped to vege- 
tables, sauces, &c., by each other : and no lady or gentleman 
accustomed to dining in company, will have any hesitation 



fJ64 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

about asking the domestics for whatever they want; instead of 
depending on the services of their friends, or waiting awkwardly 
ind silently, in the hope that some one may chance to perceive 
heir destitution and come to their relief. 

The waiter, however, should look out attentively, and when 
ne perceives that bread, water, sauce, &c., is wanted, he should 
bring it, even without being told. He should also attend par- 
ticularly to any very young or evidently inexperienced persons, 
whose diffidence may prevent them from asking for themselves. 

When you perceive that all the company have done with the 
meat, poultry, &c., keep your eye on the lady of the house, and 
she will make a sign for you to take away the plates and remove 
the dishes. In doing so, take hold of the dishes firmly, the 
larger ones in both hands, and see that you lift them high 
enough to clear the glasses, &c. It is well to ring the bell 
first, as a signal for the cook to have ready the pastry, «fec., 
which in America is generally termed the dessert ; though in 
Europe the dessert signifies only the fruit and other-things that 
are put on the table with the wine, after the cloth is removed. 

As you take the plates, put them on the tray or on the side- 
table, if you have no plate-basket; and deposit the knives in 
the knife-tray or knife-basket, which should be made with a 
division for the forks. Do all this expeditiously, and without 
noise. Then take a fork in one hand, and a large plate in the 
other, and go round and collect all the pieces of bread that may 
be left on the table. Next, take your crumb-brush and a small 
server, and go round and brush oflT all the crumbs. When there 
is dinner company, it is very customary to spread two damask 
cloths on the table, the, upper one to be taken off and carried 
dway, after the meat, &c., is removed ; leaving beneath it a 
clean one for the pastry and confectionary. When you bring 
in these articles, arrange them so as to look handsomely, placing 



WAITING ON TABLE. 265 

in the centre of the table the largest and most conspicuous. 
Beside a dessert plate and a small knife and fork, set, if neces- 
sary, a saucer and a spoon to each person. At this time there 
should always be on the table small vessels of glass or silver, 
"containing powdered loaf-sugar, with a little sugar ladle in each, 
in case any of the articles should require more sweetening. 

The usual time for eating salad or lobster is between the 
Aieat and the pastry. These things are generally drest by some 
one at table, (frequently a tedious business,) and handed round 
to the company. It is, perhaps, more convenient to have them 
drest immediately before dinner, and brought to table in a large 
glass bowl. 

This also is the usual time for eating cheese. 

When the company have done with the confectionary, the 
finger glasses should be brought on hand-waiters, setting one 
glass before each person ; after which, the napkins having been 
returned to the table, remove them all. 

Finally, clear every thing off the table ; and, turning up the 
cloth all round, take it up by the edges, and carry it away to 
be shaken out. Then put on the v/ine, fruit, and cake, with 
the powdered sugar, in case it should be wanted. Set for every 
person a small plate, a fruit knife, (those made for the purpose 
are generally of silver,) a nut-picker, and a doily for the fingers. 
The nuts should be cracked before they are brought to table, 
and done carefully, so as to divide them in half, and not crush 
them to atoms. 

Set on the wines and fruit so as to match cross-comers, and 
the large cake in the centre ; and place on the table one or more 
pitchers of ice-water, standing on small waiters, with a few 
tumblers round them. If in summer, set on also the saucers 
of broken up ice. Remove the things from the side-table with 
as little noise as possible ; after which you may leave, the 

23 



266 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

dining-room, as your services will be no longer rs quired there, 
fiCt the articles on the side-board remain undisturbed till after 
ihe company has adjourned to the drawing-room, or departed. 

During dinner, some one should see that the drawing-room 
fire is burning well, and, if it is evening, that the lamps are 
lighted, both there and on the way thither. 

In the mean time you may see to the washing of the glasses, 
silver, &c. ; counting all the articles of plate, and putting them 
away carefully. 

At dinner parties of gentlemen only, it is usual to have coffee 
brought in when they have sat a certain time over the wine and 
fruit. The coffee must be made very strong and clear, and 
handed round on a waiter with the sugar dish and milk jug : 
nothing is eaten with it. The time for bringing it in will be 
denoted by an order from the m.istress of the house, or by the 
master ringing the dining-room bell. After coffee the gentle- 
men usually depart. If there are ladies at the dinner, they will 
leave the table with their hostess when she makes the signal, 
and remain with her in the drawing-room, where she will send 
for the gentlemen to join them at tea. The waiter will then 
be wanted to carry round the tea and coffee. 

When the dining-room is vacated by the gentlemen, let the 
table be cleared as soon as possible, and wiped clean ; putting 
the wine, &c., carefully away. 

With regard to desserts at dinner parties, a very excellent 
fashion prevails in some parts of the old world, which might 
be introduced to much advantage in the new ; particularly in 
warm weather, and in large houses where there is no want of 
rooms. It is to have a separate table for the dessert, set out in 
another apartment, (generally one opening into the garden.) 
When the company have finished the meats, &c., they are con- 
auck^ed into the cool fresh dessert-room, and take their seats at 



WAITING ON TABLE. 267 

the table, where there has been time and opportunity to arrange 
the articles of confectionary so as to produce a much more ele- 
gant eflfect than when brought in one at a time to replace the 
dishes that have just been removed. Meanwhile, the first table 
can be cleared completely, and with more convenience than 
when done in presence of the company. 

Another advantage of having the dessert table set out in 
another room is, that it gives the guests an opportunity of 
changing partners. 

The preparations for a dinner party should be commenced 
the day before. The waiter should have a bill of fare given to 
him in time, that he may know what arrangements to make in 
his department. 

It will be seen that the foregoing directions for waiting on 
table refer particularly (but not exclusively) to large dinners. 
Any waiter that is clever in his attendance on company, will 
be equally so when his services are required on a smaller scale, 
and when there are none at table but the family. In genteeJ 
houses the arrangements of a family dinner should be so con- 
ducted, that the waiter, being accustomed every day to setting 
the table nicely, and waiting on it properly, will not feel tlie 
least at a loss when he is required to do so for company. If 
the family fall into the habit of waiting on themselves when 
they are alone, the domestics (besides losing some of their 
respect for them) soon get out of practice : and when there are 
strangers at dinner, become so bewildered and awkward as fre- 
quently to cause much vexation. 

Some families wish to dispense with the presence of servants 
at meal-times, considering them a restraint on the freedom of 
conversation. When this is the case, the little roisnd tables 
called dumb-waiters are very useful, placing one of them behind 
every two persons. On these are placed clean plates, knives, 



268 THE HOUSE book. 

forks, and whatever may be wanted ; and each has a shelf 
below, on which to set away the dirty plates, &c. 



CARVING. — The seat for the carver should be somewhat 
elevated above the other chairs : it is extremely ungraceful to 
carve standing, and it is rarely done by any person accustomed 
to the business. Carving depends more on skill than on 
strength. We have seen very small women carve admirably 
sitting down ; and very tall men who knew not how to cut a 
piece of beef-steak without rising on their feet to do it. 

The carving knife should be very sharp, and not heavy ; and 
it should be held firmly in the hand : also the dish should bff 
not too far from the carver. It is customary to help the fish 
with a fish trowel, and not with a knife. The middle part of 
a fish is generally considered the best. In helping it, avoid 
breaking the flakes, as that will give it a mangled appearance. 

In carving ribs or sirloin of beef, begin by cuttmg thin slices 
oif the side next to you. Afterwards you may cut from thf 
tender-loin, or cross-part near the lower end. Do not send anj 
one the outside piece, unless you know that they particularly 
-vish it. 

In helping beef-steak, put none of the bone on the plate. 

In cutting a round of corned beef, begin at the top ; but laj 
aside the first cut or outside piece, and send it to no one, as ii 
is always dry and hard. In a round of a-la-mode heef^ the out 
side is frequently preferred. 

In a leg of mutton, begin across the middle, cutting the 
slices quite down to the bone. The same with a leg of pork 
or a ham. The latter should be cut in very thin slices, as its 
flavour is spoiled when cut thick. 

To taste well, a tongue should be cut crossways in round 
slices. Cutting it lengthways (though the practice at many 



CARVING. 269 

tables) injures the flavour. The middle part of the tongue is 
the best. Do not help any one to a piece of the root ; that, 
being by no means a favourite part, is generally left in the dish. 

In carving a fore-quarter of lamb, first separate the shoulder 
part from the breast and ribs, by passing the knife under, and 
then divide the ribs. If the lamb is large, have another dish 
Drought, to put the shoulder in. 

For a loin of veal, begin near the smallest end, and separate 
the ribs ; helping a part of the kidney (as far as it will go) 
with each piece. Carve a loin of pork or mutton in the same 
manner. 

In carving a fillet of veal, begin at the top. Many persons 
prefer the first cut of outside piece. Help a portion of the 
stuffing with each slice. 

In a breast of veal, there are two parts very different in 
quality, the ribs and the brisket. You will easily perceive the 
division ; enter your knife at it, and cut through, which will 
separate the two parts. Ask the persons you are going to help, 
whether they prefer a rib, or a piece of the brisket. 

For a haunch of venison, first make a deep incision, by pass- 
ing your knife all along the side, cutting quite down to the 
bone. This is to let out the gravy. Then turn the broad end 
of the haunch towards you, and cut it as deep as you can in 
thin, smooth slices, allowing some of the fat to each person. 

For a saddle of venison, or of mutton, cut from the tail to 

the other end on each side of the back-bone, making very thin 

slices, and sending some fat with each. Venison and roast 

mutton chill very soon, therefore it is usual to eat it with iron 

Leaters under the plates. Some heaters are made to contain 

hot coals, others are kept warm with boiling water, and some 

are heated by spirits of wine ; the last is a very exceptionable 

mode, as the blue blaze flaming out all round the plate, is tc» 

23* 



870 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

many persons frightful. Currant jelly is an indispensable 
appendage to venison, and to roast mutton, and to ducks. 

A young pig is most generally divided before it comes to 
table, in which case, it is not customary to send in the head, 
as to many persons it is a revolting spectacle after it is cut off. 
When served up whole, first separate the head from the shoui 
ders, then cut off the limbs, and then divide the ribs. Help 
some of the stuffing with each piece. 

To carve a fowl, begin by sticking your fork i;ri the pinion, 
and drawing it towards the leg ; and then passing your knife 
underneath, take off the wing at the joint. Next, slip your 
knife between the leg and the body, to cut through the joint; 
and with the fork, turn the leg back, and the joint will givo 
way. Then take off the other wing and leg. If the fowl has 
been trussed (as it ought to be) with the liver and gizzard, 
help the liver with one wing, and the gizzard with the other. 
The liver wing is considered the best. After the limbs are 
taken off, enter your knife into the top of the breast, and cut 
under the merry-thought, so as to loosen it, lifting it with your 
fork. Afterwards cut slices from both sides of the breast 
Next take off the collar-bones, which lie on each side of the 
merry-thought, and then separate the side-bones from the back. 
The breast and wings are considered as the most delicate parts 
of the fowl ; the back, as the least desirable, is generally left 
in the dish. Some persons, in carving a fowl, find it more 
convenient to take it on a plate, and as they separate it, return 
each part to the dish ; but this is not now the usual way. 

A turkey is carved in the same manner as a fowl ; excep 
that the legs and" wings being larger, are separated at the lower 
joint. The lower part of the leg, (or drumstick, as it is called,) 
bemg hard, tough, and stringy, is never helped to any one, but 
aUrwed to remain on the dish. First cut off the vving, leg. 



CARVING. 2^1 

and breast from one side; then turn the turkey round, and cut 
them off from the ether. 

To carve a goose, separate the leg from the body, by putting 
the fork into the small end of the limb ; pressing it close to 
the body, and then passing the knife under, and turning the leg 
back, as you cut through the joint. To take off the wing, put 
your fork into the small end of the pinion, and press it closely 
to the body ; then slip the knife under, and separate the joint. 
Next cut under the merry-thought, and take it off; and then 
cut slices from the breast. Then turn the goose, and dismem- 
ber the other side. Take off the two upper side-bones, that 
are next to the wings ; and then the two lower side-bones. 
The breast and legs of a goose afford the finest pieces. If a 
goose is old, there is no fowl so tough ; and if difficult to carve, 
it will be still more difficult to eat. 

Partridges, pheasants, grouse, &c., are carved in the same 
manner as fowls. Quails, woodcocks, and snipes are merely 
split down the back ; so also are pigeons, giving a half to each 
person, or a whole one if small. 

In helping any one to gravy, or to melted butter, do not pour 
it over their meat, fowl, or fish, but put it to one side on a 
vacant part of the plate, that they may use just as much of it 
as they like. In filling a plate, never heap one thing on 

another. ^ 

If 

In helping vegetables, do not plunge the spoon down to the 
bottom of the dish, in case they should not have been perfectly 
well drained, and the water should have settled there. 

By observing carefully how it is done, you may acquire a 
knowledge of the joints, and of the process of carving, which 
a little daily practice will soon convert into dexterity. If a 
younjr lady is ignorant of this very useful art, it will be weii 
for her to take lessons of her father, or her brother, an4 a 



272 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

married lady can easily learn from her husband. Domestics 
who wait at table may soon, from looking on daily, become so 
expert that, when necessary, they can take a dish to the side- 
table and carve it perfectly well. 

At a dinner party, if the hostess is quite young, she is fre- 
qaently glad to be relieved of the trouble of carving by the 
gentleman who sits nearest to her; but if she is familiar with 
the business, she usually prefers doing it herself. 



TO DRAW POULTRY, &c.— Though to prepare poultry 
for cooking is by no means an agreeable business, yet some 
knowledge of it may be very useful to the mistress of a house, 
in case she should have occasion to instruct a servant in the 
manner of doing it; or in the possible event of her being obliged 
to do it herself; for instance, if her cook has been suddenly 
taken ill, or has left her unexpectedly. 

As all poultry is, of course, drawn in the same manner, it 
will be sufficient to designate the mode of emptying the inside 
of a fowl. In winter, if the fowl is frozen, lay it before the 
fire till it has completely thawed. Then have ready one or 
more large pieces of waste paper, rolled up loosely into a long 
wisp ; lay the fowl down on a clean part of the hearth, and, 
taking its legs in your hand, light the paper, and pass it back 
and forv^ard above the surface of the skin, (turning the fowl on 
both sides,) so as to singe off all the hairs; doing it so carefully 
as not to burn or scorch the skin. There should always be a 
quantity of old newspapers, or other waste paper, kept in z. 
d.oset or drawer of the kitchen for this and other purposes. 
Next, lay the fowl upon its back on a clean old waiter or tray, 
(such as should be kept in every kitchen,) and with a large 
sharp knife cut off, first the head, and then the legs at the first 
,oint The next thing is to cut a very long slit in the skin at 



DRAWING POULTRY, ETC. 273 

the right side of the neck, and witli your fing-i^rs strip down the 
skin towards the shoulders, till you come to the craw, which 
you must take out with your hand. Then with your knife 
make tAvo long deep cuts or incistons on each side of the body, 
going downward towards the tail. Put your hand' into the cut 
or orifice on the right side, and pull out the heart, liver, gizzard, 
and then the. entrails. Take care not to break the gall-bag, or 
its liquor will run over the liver, and make it so bitter that it 
cannot be eaten, and should therefore be thrown away without 
cooking. Next, to flatten the body, break the breast-bone by 
a triking on it hard with your hand. Then tuck the legs into 
the lower part of the slits that you have cut on each side of the 
body. Afterwards with your hand bend or curve inwards the 
end of the neck-bone, and tuck it away under the long loose 
piece of skin left there. After this, lay the fowl in a small tub 
of cold water, and wash it well inside and out : then dry it with 
a clean towel. 

Next, cut open the gizzard, empty it of the sand and gravel, 
and take out the thick inside skin. Split open the heart, and 
let out the blood that is in it. Then carefully cut the gall-bag 
from the liver, so as not to break it. Wash clean the heart, 
liver, and gizzard, (having trimmed them neatly,) and return 
the heart to the inside of the breast; putting back also the eggs, 
if you have found any. Have ready the stuffing, and fill up 
with it the vacancy from which you have taken the craw, &c., 
pressing it in hard. Next, taking between your thumb and 
finger the above-mentioned piece of skin at the top of the neck, 
draw it down, tightly towards the back of the fowl, (folding it 
nicely over the bent end of the neck-bone,) and fasten it down 
between the shoulders with a skewer, which must be stuck in so 
as to go lengthways down the back. This will prevent any ol 
the stuffing from getting out, and will keep all compact ar-a nice. 



274 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Then run a skewer through both the wings and the upper 
part of the body, tucking in the liver so as to appear from under 
the right pinion, and the gizzard (scoring it first) on the left. 
Both pinions must be bent ^upwards. Lastly, secure all by 
tying two strings of small twine tightly round the fowl ; one 
just above the skewer that confines the legs; the other just 
below that which passes through the wings. 

Of course, the strings and skewers are removed before the 
poultry is sent to table. 

Turkeys, geese, and ducks are always trussed in this manner, 
the legs being cut off at the first joint. So are fowls for boiling. 
But when fowls are to be roasted, some cooks leave on the 
whole of the legs and feet, (scraping and washing them clean,) 
and drawing the feet up quite to the breast, where they are -tied 
together by a string. 

Pigeons, pheasants, partridges, &c., are all trussed as above, 
with the legs short. 

To draw a little roasting pig, cut the body open by one long 
slit, and before you take out what is inside, loosen it all with 
a sharp knife ; then extract it with your hands. Empty the 
head also. Afterwards wash the animal clean, (inside and out,) 
and fill the vacancy with stuffing. Having bent the knees 
under, skewer the legs to the body, ^nd secure the stuffing by 
tying twine tightly several times round the body; first fasten- 
ing the slit by pinning it with a wooden skewer. Having 
Doiled the liver and heart, chop them to enrich the gravy. 



THE BREAKFAST TABLE.— If preparing the breakfast 
table in winter, first see that the fire is good and the hearth 
clean. If in summer, that the butter and cream are cooling in 
the ice. If you have no ice, they may be cooled by standing 
hi a vessel of cold pump- water. In warm weather, some fami- 



THE BREAKFAST TABLE. 275 

lies have fresh fruit on the breakfast table, such as currants, 
strawberries, raspberries, &c. If produced in the garden, they 
should be gathered early, divested of the stems, put into deep 
dishes, sprinkled with powdered white sugar, and set on ice, 
or in some cold place. 

Having removed the coloured table cover, (if there is one,) 
and wiped the table with a duster, spread on the white cloth 
as evenly as possible, observing that the centre crease of its 
folds is exactly in the centre of the table. Then place the large 
lapanned waiter at the head of the table, and put on it a cup, 
saucer, and tea-spoon for each person, and a small pile of three 
or four extra ones, in case they should chance to be wanted. 
Put the tea-spoons at the right-hand side of the cup. Back of 
the cups and saucers, set the sugar-dish on the right-hand, and 
the cream-pot on the left, with the slop-bowl in the centre ; 
leaving a place behind for the coiFee-pot or tea-pot. If there is 
an urn, its place is beyond the waiter ; and there should be a 
stand for it, either of worsted wprk or of oil-cloth. If the 
spout is inconveniently low, (as is sometimes the case,) the 
urn may be elevated by a stand made of a thick block of wood, 
nicely finished, and painted and varnished in imitation of ma- 
hogany or black walnut. The spout of the tea-urn should be 
immediately over the tea-pot. If there is a coffee-um, the cups, 
of course, are filled directly from it. 

In preparing the urn, see that the heater is put into the fire 
in time to become red-hot. When you put it into the cylinder, 
take care not to drop it down too hard and heavy, or you may 
break the bottom of the urn. There should be a long iron rod 
with a hook at the end, for the purpose of lifting the heater. 
The water or the coifee must always be boiling hot at the time 
you pour it into the urn, and it must always be filled to a level 
with the heater, which otherwise may burn the top and sides. 



276 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

An urn should be washed out every ddj, and wiped dry inside; 
as, if left damp, it will be apt to get musty. An urn that is 
put by for any length of time should, while out of use, be kept 
filled with clean waste paper: not newspapers, however, or 
any sort that is printed. It is well to have a green baize cover 
ioi your urns, as it will preserve them from dust and damp, and 
Irom injury by the flies. 

In some families, a bright tea-kettle on a chafing-dish, to 
stand on the hearth, is used instead of a water-urn. In this 
case, see that the chafing-dish is well filled with clear glowing 
coals, free from ashes ; and that the' water is boiling hard at 
the time the kettle is filled. It should be brought in about ten 
minutes before the breakfast hour, that the tea made with it 
may have time to draw. ' Scald the pot twice before the tea is 
put in. 

After you have set the cups, place round the table the plates, 
knives, and forks, leaving a few extra ones on the side-board. 
If they are used in the family, do not forget to set round the 
little cup-plates. Lay also a napkin for each person. Place 
the castor in the centre of the table, and the eggs just behind 
it. If a tin or silver egg-boiler is used on the table, it should 
be filled in the kitchen with water that is boiling. Then put 
in the eggs^ which ought first to be wiped clean ; for, though 
the outside is not eaten, if dirty they look disagreeably. In 
three or four minutes pour off the first water, (which will have 
become chilled by the coldness of the eggs,) and fill up the tin 
Mdth some more that is boiling hard. Then shut up the covers, 
and the eggs will finish their boiling on the table. 

When egg-cups are used, they are generally of china, or else 
of silver, gilt inside. The egg is set into the cup, and, having 
broken the large end by striking it with a spoon, it is eaten out 
of the shell. Another way is to have egg-glasses, and to empty 



THE CllEAKFAST TABLE. 277 

into the glass the contents of the egg-. Spoons for the egga 
should be laid beside all the plates. Have two salt-cellars ; 
and, as there should be a plate of butter on each side of the 
table, put two butter-knives. Butter for breakfast looks very 
nicely if made into round pats and printed with a small butter 
print. On the top, if the weather is warm, should be laid a 
piece of clear bright ice. There are small, covered, deep dishes 
of china or glass, purposely for holding the butter when brought 
to table. There are similar covered dishes for cheese. For 
whatever meat or fish may be at breakfast, lay a knife, fork, 
and spoon to help it with ; and place mats for the hot dishes, 
which should be brought in with covers. Do not cut the bread 
too thin, and see that a sufficiency of it is put on at once. If 
there are hot cakes, let them be brought to the door, and there 
delivered to the waiter ; for it will be very inconvenient to have 
him continually going in and out for them. Of batter cakes, 
it is well to begin with four on each plate ; otherwise the inter- 
vals between the arrival of the fresh supplies will be quite too 
long for persons with good appetites, or who may have but 
little time to remain at table. 

The domestic that attends at breakfast should (as at dinner) 
have a napkin and a small waiter, with which to hand every 
thing. It is the custom in many houses (and a very good one) 
to send round the sugar and cream, that each person may use 
them according to his own taste. The custom of putting brown 
sugar in coffee is now exploded in almost all families that live 
genteelly. 

The coffee should on no consideration be thick and muddy 
It is not well to roast more than a pound at a time, as it loses 
its strength by keeping. Previous to roasting, it should be 
washed through three waters, and then dried before the fir^j 
Then put it into the coffee-roaster ; (an iron cylinder, standing 

24 



278 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

horizontally on feet before the fire, and turned round occasion 
ally by a handle.) If you have not one of these convenienl 
articles, you must substitute an iron pot or skillet ; or you may 
do the coffee in a tin pan, set in the oven of a hot stove. 
Whatever it may be roasted in, it must be stirred frequently, 
and done of a fine dark brown, not black ; putting among it, 
while roasting, a table-spoonful of butter. By the time it is 
taken from the fire, have ready for one quart of coflfee the white 
of two eggs, beaten to a froth, and gradually mix it with the 
cofl'ee, after it has been poured out into an earthen pan, and 
while it is cooling. It. must not be hot enough to turn the egg 
white. This will give the coffee sufficient clearness when 
ground and made ; and precludes the necessity of putting in 
isinglass or white of egg every morning. If it is necessary to 
roast a larger quantity at once, you will find the whites of three 
eggs sufficient for four quarts of coffee. 

If there are both fish and meat on the breakfast table, see to 
have at hand a sufficient supply of clean plates, knives, and 
forks, in case any of the company should choose to eat of both. 
At breakfast, as at dinner, things should be so arranged that 
the waiter will have no occasion to leave the room. If there 
is cold ham, let it be sliced extremely thin. Ham for broiling 
or frying should, early in the morning, or the night before, have 
the saitness taken out by scalding the slices several times in 
boiling water, letting it soak in each till the water cools 

Half an hour before breakfast, the waiter should ring his 
hand bell, to give notice that the time is approaching; and 
when every thing is on the table, and the lady of the house 
ready to take her seat, he should ring it again. His station at 
breakfast is behind her chair, a little to the right. He is first 
to hand round the cups of tea or coffee, one at a time, on his 
waiter. Next, beginning with the ladies, he is to carry their 



THE TEA-TABLE. 27£ 

plates for whatever they may wish to have, and to hand round 
the bread, warm cakes, &c., keeping a look-out during the 
whole repast, to see what may be wanted. A good waiter will 
pride himself on getting through his business properly and 
expeditiously, without being continually reminded of it. As 
soon as the family have quitted the table, (and not till then,) 
he must begin to fold up the napkins and put them away, and 
set back the chairs, remove every thing that has been used, 
shake out and fold up the cloth, and restore the room to order. 
In ill-managed houses, or where there are bad servants, we 
have seen a breakfast table left standing with the cloth, &e., 
upon it till near dinner-time. 



THE TEA-TABLE.— The manner of preparing a tea-table 
differs but little from that of breakfast. The kettle should be 
put on at least half an hour before, wdth a sufficiently good 
fire under it; but it is not necessary, as is the practice with 
many inconsiderate servants, to make up, in a summer after- 
noon, as large a fire to boil the tea-kettle as would be neces- 
sary for cooking a dinner. Unless it is put on early enough, 
the tea may be retarded by having to wait for it to boil. Some 
servants think that if the kettle has once boiled, that is suffi- 
cient ; and they will take it down, or allow the fire to diminish 
under it, so that, at the time the water is wanted to pour on 
the tea, instead of being boiling hot, it is only luke-warm ; in 
which case, if even half a pound of tea was put into the pot, 
It would be weak, flat, and tasteless. 

In many families, a white table-cloth is not used at tea. If 
the coloured cloth is of cotton, and dark, it may do very well, 
as It can easily be washed. But a woollen cloth on a tea-table 
is not agreeable, either to the sight, touch, or smell ; the grease, 



280 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

&c., in a short time renders tlieni unpleasant, and they are 
rare.y washed as soon as is necessary. 

Unless there are oysters, or cucumbers, the castors and salt 
need not be set on the tea-table. If there are sweetmeats, it is 
well to have an extra cream jug, or to have cream in a glass or 
silver bowl, to be dipped out with a small ladle. For fresh 
fruit, strawberries, raspberries, &c., a bowl of powdered loaf- 
sugar will also be wanted. The basket or plates of sweet 
cake should be carried round the table, on his hand-waiter, by 
the domestic who is attending, and this should be done not 
merely at the close of the repast, but soon after its commence- 
ment. The various sorts of very small cakes, scarcely a 
mouthful in size, and called by the confectioners mixed cakes, 
are no longer introduced at tea. 



HINTS ON EVENING PARTIES.— In sending notes of 
invitation, let the hour always be specified, and the day of the 
month, as well as that of the week. If you intend to have tea, 
let the word be mentioned in the note ; otherwise, invite for 
evening only. 

Bespeak your confectionary, &c., at the very best shops ; other 
wise the things may be sent to you made of bad ingredients. 
Unless your own servants are sufficient in number, and very 
capable, hire for the evening one or more of the men who 
make a business of waiting at parties, and who understand 
how they are conducted at the best houses. If you depend on 
your own people, you must see that the fires are in good order 
and the lamps all lighted at an early hour, and that all the re- 
freshments are actually in the house, so that there may be no 
disappointment, and no' occasion to send out for any thing. 

When tea is to be carried round to more than four or fivfc 
persons, tliere should be two men as waiters, one to hand thtj 



HINTS ON EVENING PARTIES. 281 

tea, and the other the cakes. If the party is large, the waiters, 
of course, should be more in number. 

We earnestly recommend, that before the company begins to 
arrive, there shall be provided in some convenient place, in one 
of the drawing-rooms, a server with a pitcher of cool* water, 
and some tumblers, for the benefit of those ladies that are in 
the practice of interrupting and retarding the progress of the 
tea, and sending away the man that is handing it, to bring them 
a glass of water ; notwithstanding that they might easily haye 
allayed their thirst while in the dressing-room. 

On one of the large tea-trays or waiters, set round the cups 
of green tea, black tea, and coffee ; those of green tea distin- 
guished by having a spoon in each cup, the others having 
spoons in the saucers. In the centre, place the sugar-dish, 
cream-jug, and a small tea-pot of hot water, for those who wish 
to weaken their tea, or to drink only milk and water. The 
handles of all should be turned towards the company. The 
business of carrying round the tea will be much accelerated, if 
there is a third waiter, (a boy, for instance,) to take round on a 
small server, the sugar, cream, and water-pots, as then the 
first waiter will only have to stop a moment before each person, 
merely while a cup is taken from his tray. It is not necessary, 
when tea is handed round to a large company, to have bread 
and butter, muffins, toast, sliced ham, tongue, or any thing of 
that sort on the cake waiter. Few persons, (particularly 
ladies,) on these occasions, have any desire to partake of them, 
having, perhaps, already taken a family tea at home : and 
they are very greasy to the fingers, injurious to the gloves, and 
may also, by some accident, grease the dresses. It is better 
on the cake waiter to have cake only ; for instance, a large 
handsome one in the centre, placed on a silver waiter, anil 

sliced standing ; a basket of smaller c|ikes, and one of sponge 

24* 



282 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

cake, for persons who are unwilling to eat of any that has buttei 
in it. There should be a silver fork on the tray, for taking out 
a slice of the large cake, and a knife with which to cut more, 
if necessary. On this tray should be small plates in piles, set 
on the side next the company. 

The chief waiter must take an opportunity of asking the lady 
of the house if there is any one to whom she particularly wishes 
the tea to be handed first. This compliment is always paid to 
a bride, to the greatest stranger, or to a lady for whom the party 
has been made. Otherwise the waiter understands that he is 
to go first to the lady who appears to be the eldest in the room. 
When all the ladies have been supplied, the tea, &c., is then 
handed to the gentlemen, taking care to miss no one. When 
the tea-tray is empty, the waiter is to carry it to the room where 
it is poured out, and bring it back with a fresh supply. Some- 
times, when the company is not very large, the tea is poured 
out in their presence by one of the ladies of the family, seated 
at a table in the back drawing-room. 

The boy or third waiter having taken from his server the 
cream, sugar, &c., should carry it round for the empty cups. 

The man that has the cake waiter should continue to go 
round with it, particularly in the interval between the first cups 
and the second, and should look out to see if every person is 
helped. After the cups have gone round a second time, (begin- 
ning again with the lady to whom the tea was handed first,) it 
will not be necessary to. bring in quite as many the third time, 
as few persons take more than two. It is customary to conclude 
by bringing in the cake-tray alone and going round with it at 
ihe last. 

About an hour after tea, it is usual to send round lemonade 
in glasses with handles, a basket of little cakes (maccaroons, 
&c.) being in the centre ©f the tray. If there is to be i supper 



HINTS ON EVENING PARTIES. 283 

nothing more is handed round. If not, there is generally ice- 
cream, jelly, blanc-mange, &c., accompanied by wafer-cakes, 
savoy-biscuit, or almond sponge-cake, and followed immediately 
by a tray with wine and liqueurs. Champagne is always 
carried round in a black bottle, with the cork in except at tho 
moment when the waiter is filling the glasses, which he must 
do a^ quickly as possible. 

When the wine, &c., is handed to the ladies, it is well to 
have on the same tray a glass pitcher with cool water, and a 
few tumblers. 

At ladies' parties, when there is what is called a standing 
supper, ^nd no dancing, it is customary to have the table set in 
the back drawing-room, after ten o'clock. The waiters who 
are hired for these occasions perform this business with great 
expedition and dexterity, and arrange the articles on the table 
so as to produce a very elegant effect. When all is ready, the 
chief waiter signifies it to the lady of the house, and the com- 
pany then assemble round the table. 

Some confidential person should be employed on these even- \ 
ings to superintend behind the scenes, and see that proper care 
is taken of all the things that are left. The servants should be 
forbidden to invite their friends to the kitchen, as they are very 
apt to do on these occasions. Having company of their own 
withdraws their attention from their business, and gives oppor- 
tunity for much idle gossip ; besides which, their visiters 
generally carry off nearly all the delicacies that remain of the \ 
supper, and frequently make too free with the wine. ^y 

In the principal cities it is usual to decorate the supper table 
of a ladies' party with vases of flowers ; or with temples, bas- 
kets, &c., of ornamental sugar-work. These can be hired, for 
the evening, of a confectioner. Glass and china can also be 
hired from a china-store. There are baskets of mottoes ui 



284 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

secrets, ice-creams, jellies, blanc-mange, sweetmeats, fresh 
foreign fruit, cakes, charlottes, and other things, according as 
the fashion may be. Also oysters, pickled or stewed, terrapin, 
and chicken salad, with baskets of small light bread-rolls to 
eat with them. Much unnecessary expense is frequently in- 
curred on these occasions. 

The gentlemen conduct the ladies to the supper-roora, and 
help them as they stand round the table. The waiters should 
also be alert in seeing that every one is properly attended. 

Tea is only dispensed with at very large parties, where 
banding it round in the crowd would be inconvenient. On 
these occasions it is sometimes customary to have a table in 
each of the dressing-rooms, with tea, coffee, and a basket of 
cake, with a servant to pour out for any one who may choose a 
cup before they go down. Have no wine in the gentlemen's room. 

Few persons, however, go to a party without first taking 
their tea at home at the usual hour. 

On the evening of a party, the fires should be in proper order, 
and the lamps lighted at an early hour, both in the drawing- 
rooms, on the stair-case, and in the dressing-rooms ; and the 
ladies of the family drest and down stairs long before it is time 
for any of the company to arrive, in case some of the guests 
may chance to be in advance of the hour. Let one of the 
waiters take his station in the entry, just within the street-door, 
to be. ready to open it immediately, as soon as the bell rings, 
and to inform the company, as they come, where they are to 
find the dressing-rooms. In cold weather, tfiere should be a 
good fire in the stove that warms the hall and stair-case. It is 
wcii to have another waiter stationed up stairs, near the gentle- 
men's room ; and a female domestic should stay just within 
the open door of the ladies' room till the company has all 
arrived. Both dressing-rooms should be well lighted, havinof 



HINTS ON EVE NINO PARTIES. 285 

a good fire in each, and a sufficiency of mirrors, combs, and 
hair-brushes ; and in the ladies' room large pincushions filled 
with pins on the toilet tables ; on one of which it is well to 
have a work-box with thimble, scissors, needles, thread, sewing 
silk, &c., in case any one should wish by a few stitches hj 
repair an accident that may have happened to her dress, or tt. 
sew on a string that may have broken loose from her slipper 
Also a bottle of cologne water, and one of camphor, in case of 
a lady being suddenly .taken ill. Two or three young women 
should attend all the evening in this apartment, (which is 
generally the chamber or dressing-room of the mistress of the 
house,) for the purpose of assisting the ladies in taking off their 
cloaks, changing their shoes, fastening their gloves, or in any 
other way that may be required. The cloak, hood, &c., of 
each lady should be wrapped up together and put into a sepa- 
rate place. If there are not two toilet tables and mirrors 
belonging to the room, let a second be placed there for that 
evening ; as one will not be sufficient to accommodate all the 
ladies : and gentlemen are generally rather impatient of being 
long detained in the passage by waiting for them. It is cus- 
tomary, till all her female guests have arrived, for the lady of 
the house to remain at the upper end of the front drawing-room, 
that the company, as they enter, may know exactly where to 
find her when going up to pay their compliments. 

Care should be taken that the fire and lights are kept up all 
the evening in the dressing-rooms, and that the attendants are 
at their posts, in case some of the company should come verv 
late, and others should go away very early. 

When the party is over, as, in all probability, every person 
in the house will be very much fatigued, and glad to get to bed, 
it is better to defer clearing aw^ay and w^ashing up the things 
till next day. Let the lamps and fires be extinguished, the 



28f> THE HOUSE BOOK. 

drawing-rooms and pantry be locked up, and all left as it is till 
morning. We have heard of over-good house-waives, (more 
nice than wise,) who boasted of having, after a party, stayed 
up all night, and made their servants do the same, for the pur- 
pose of having every thing washed and put regularly away, 
and the rooms restored to their usual order; a mode of pro- 
cedure which few circumstances could warrant, and which 
certainly evinced very little consideration for themselves, ani 
none at all for their domestics. 

At summer evening parties it is the custom (whether the 
refreshments are handed round or placed on a table) to have 
after tea, cakes, confectionary, ice-cream, and fresh fruits, 
which, if they are berries, should have with them a bowl of 
powdered loaf-sugar and a pitcher of cream. The beverage, 
lemonade and orgeat; and after the ice-cream, wine or li- 
queurs. 

From " the signs of the times," there is great reason to hope 
that the period is fast approaching when large, crowded, and 
extravagantly luxurious parties will become obsolete ; at least 
in those classes of American society that are or ought to be 
the most distinguished for good taste and refinement. Surely 
the most rational, agreeable, and in every respect the most 
eligible manner of keeping up social intercourse, is to see your 
friends frequently, but in small numbers ; instead of once or 
twice in the season giving what is called a squeeze, asking 
every one you may happen to know, (and consequently many 
whom you do not care for,) and incurring a great and sometimes 
very inconvenient expense, and a vast deal of fatigue, for a 
purpose that, after all, affords no real pleasure, either to the 
family or their guests. 

"We are glad to find that, in the most really genteel circles, 
it is now becoming very customary to have only small parties ; 



SUPPER PARTIES. 287 

inviting but twenty or thirty persons at a time, till, ia thf; 
course of the season, you get round all your friends : and select- 
ing, on each occasion, those that are likely to be most agreeable 
and best suited to each other. And, as at these assemblages, 
nothing is provided that is entirely for show, and the style of 
dress is comparatively simple, the expense and trouble of 
receiving company, or of going into it, is greatly and properly 
diminished; and the enjoyment proportionably increased. 

Where there is a small company, not exceeding ten or a dozen 
persons, it is usual, an hour or two after tea, to have refresh- 
ments brought in by a domestic, and placed on one of the tables 
in the room, with a sufficiency of glasses, plates, forks, &c., 
allowing a few extra ones. After which, the servant retires, 
as soon as the mistress of the house has seen that all is right ; 
and the gentlemen go to the table, and help the ladies as they 
sit, to whatever they may wish. The refreshments remaining 
on the table, as long as the company stay, and offered again, 
previous to their departure. 



SUPPER PARTIES. — Except at an oyster supper, it is not 
very customary for ladies to appear at these entertainments. 
For a gentlemen's supper party, it is usual to have terrapin, 
canvas-back ducks, or game; and sometimes French dishes. 
On some occasionSj all the articles for a gentlemen's supper 
party are cold. The table is set out nearly the same as for 
dinner, first seeing that the room is well lighted and well 
warmed. If the supper consists entirely of cold things, the 
plates must be cold also ; and it is not usual at suppers, to 
have either wine-coolers or finger-glasses ; or to hand round 
coffee at the close. There is sometimes chocolate and rusk. 

Pastry is rarely seen on a supper-table. The dessert is of 
ice-cream, oranges, grapes, &c. 



2S8 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

At an oyster supper, it is usual to have all the various pre- 
parations of oysters, fried, stewed, broiled, roasted, raw, and 
in patties. Potatoes mashed, and browned, are generally 
added. The roasted oysters are served in the shell, on very 
large dishes, and brought in " hot and hot," all the time ; as 
they are generally eaten much faster than they can be cooked. 
Small buckets (usually of maple or stained wood, with brass 
hoops) are placed on the floor, for the purpose of receiving the 
shells, beside the chairs of the gentlemen ; as the business of 
opening the oysters mostly devolves on them. At the right 
hand of each plate, is placed a thick folded towel, and an 
oyster knife, which is used only to open the shell ; at the other 
side, the napkin, fork, bread, tumbler, wine-glasses, -fee. On 
the side-table, let there be plenty of plates, knives and forks, 
to change with ; a basket of bread or light rolls ; pitchers of 
water; and bottles of porter and cider; decanters of wine 
being on the table. 

Several butter-plates, with a butter knife to each, should be 
set along the table. Sometimes the butter is made up into the 
shape of a pine-apple, or a basket of flowers. 



We subjoin an excellent receipt for 

Cream-oysters. — ^Take, for instance, five hundred of the 
largest and finest oysters you can procure. Lift them out of 
the liquor, one at a lime, by slicking a fork into the heart or 
hard part, and lay them in a deep pan. Then strain the liquor ; 
take the half of it only, and boil it. When it has come to a 
boil, have ready three quarters of a pound of the best fresh 
butter, divided into balls or lumps, and each slightly rolled in 
a very little flour. Add them to the boiling oyster-liquor; and 
■when they are all melted, stir the whole very well, and put in 
tne oysters. As soon as they have come to a boil, take out the 



SUPPER PARTIES. 289 

oysters, and throw them immediately into a pan of very cold 
water ; this will plump them, and give them firmness. Then 
take a quart and a pint of rich cream ; add it very gradually 
to the liquor, (stirring all the time,) and give it another boil 
after <he cream is in ; seasoning it with a powdered nutmeg, 
or more, according to your taste. When it has boiled again, 
return the oysters to it, and simmer them in the creamed liquoi 
a few minutes ; just long enough to heat them thoroughly. 
Then take them out, put them into a tureen, and serve them 
warm, with rolls of fresh bread. 



Here is a very fine receipt for 

Oyster Patties. — Have ready some shells of puff-paste, baked 
empty, in small patty-pans. You may bespeak them in the 
morning, of a good pastry-cook, on whom you can depend for 
using only the best butter. Take a sufficient quantity of 
oysters, drain them, remove the hard part, and chop the rest 
into very small pieces. Mix them with some rich cream, and 
season them to your taste, with powdered mace and nutmeg. 
The mixture must be very thick. Put it into a saucepan over 
a moderate heat, and when it has come to a boil, take it off" the 
fire, and put a portion into the hollow of each of the baked 
shells. You may serve them up either warm or cold. 

If you wish to have the patties with lids, bake, inside of 
each, a bit of bread-crust, to support the top. When they are 
baked, remove the lid nicely, by slipping a knife under it, fill 
the patties with .the oyster mixture, (previously cooked,) and 
then restore the covers. 

. Oyster pies, the size of a soup-plate, may be made in this 
manner, with chopped oysters and cream, either with or with 
out covers. 

25 



390 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

CHINA WARE. — For common, every-day use, china ware 
of entire white seems now to have superseded all others, and 
very justly ; as, when of good quality, it is pure and delicate 
m its appearance, never looks the worse for wear, (as is the 
case with much of the gilt china,) and when broken is easily 
matched. If possible, avoid buying cups with handles ; as the 
handles are rarely used, and soon knocked off, and the cup then 
looks shabby and defaced. Many of the saucers now made 
are but very slightly concave, and turn outwards towards the 
edge, which makes them useless to persons who do not like to 
take their tea out of the cup. As there are many who prefer 
drinking out of the saucer, it is well to buy them of a conve- 
nient shape, and also to have a set of little cup-plates or 
cup-mats. 

India china (except the large jars) is now much less in 
favour than formerly ; as the French is generally preferred to 
it, the gilding being more lasting, the colours finer, and the 
patterns more elegant. The Worcester china is also very 
beautiful in quality, gilding, and painting. It is not unusual 
to make up at the china stores what are called Harlequin tea- 
sets, every cup and saucer being different, and to be purchased 
separately. Odd cups and saucers are imported for this pur- 
pose, of all shapes, patterns, and colours. A Harlequin set, 
however, should consist of none but the most elegant articles 
If of low-priced cups and saucers that have no beauty to recom 
mend them, the whole will have a mean and paltry effect, 
looking like the leavings of broken sets. 

Chma of a white ground, sprigged with flowers of different 
colours, has too much the look of calico. The most elegant 
that we have seen has but one colour besides the gilding. A 
delicate light blue or pink, with a rich gold border, is very 
beautiful. So is dove-colour and gold ; or purple and gold. 



MENDING BROKEN DISHES. 291 

TO MEND BROKEN DISHES— If you have any dishes 
or plates that have been merely broken in two, but not shattered, 
procure from a house-painter a small quantity of common white 
paint. Take the two halves of the dish, (first seeing that they 
are perfectly dry, and free from grease ;) place them, bottom 
upwards, on a shelf or common table, or on a floor, and smear 
the broken edges with the paint, laying it on neatly with a 
small brush. Then join these edges together, fitting them 
closely. Cut some strong new linen-tape the exact length of 
the fracture. Cover one side of the tape also with white paint, 
and lay it over the crack where you have joined the two broken 
pieces together. Press down the tape closely on the. crack, so 
as to make it lie smooth and even. Then let the dish remain 
untouched for three or four weeks, by which time the fracture 
will be firmly cemented, and the dish will never break again 
in that place. 

Perform the process in the place where the article is tc 
remain unmoved till quite dry ; and do it on a shelf, table, or 
floor that is perfectly level. It should be done in a room that 
is not in constant use, where it can be shut up so that nothing 
will disturb it while drying, and where no dust can lodge 
on it. 

A bowl or other vessel, cracked but half across, may be 
mended by plastering the crack on both sides with only the 
white paint, omitting the tape. 

Many servants are in the habit, when a dish comes from the 
table, of setting it on hot coals, to keep the meat warm for their 
own dinner, at the risk of splitting the dish in two. Let this 
practice be forbidden ; and direct them to remove the meat into 
a tin or iron pan when they wish to warm it. Whenever plates 
or dishes are broken in half, care should be taken to save the 
)>ieces, that they may be mended in the above manner : we 



292 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

know it to be a mode of cementing them that can certainly do 
depended on. 



TO MEND BROKEN GLASSES.— Get some cloves of 
English garlic ; (you may obtain them in market, at a seed- 
store, or at a druggist's ;) tie them up in a rag, lay them in a 
tin paH, and pound them with a hammer to get out the juice. 
Next take the broken glass, (for instance, a tumbler, bowl, or 
dish that has been broken in half,) and wet or smear each of 
the broken edges with the garlic juice. Then stick them firmly 
together, stand the article on a plate, and set it away to remain 
undisturbed for a fortnight. 

The broken lid of a pitcher can also be mended in this 
manner. 

There is no wny of mending a looking-glass, if broken. 



TO MEND A WINDOW PANE.— If a window glass is 
cracked across, you may mend it by plastering some putty on 
both sides of the crack. This will not look well, of course, 
but it will make the broken pane air-tight, and prevent it from 
falling apart, and may do very well till you can have a new 
glass put in by the glazier. 



TO SOFTEN OLD PUTTY.— In removing old or broken 
panes from a window, it is generally very difficult to get off 
the hard dry putty that sticks round the glass snd its frame. 
Dip a small brush in a little nitric or muriatic acid, (*io be 
obtained at the druggist's,) and go over the putty witH it. Let 
it rest a while, and it will soon become so soft that j\» «an 
remove it with ease. 



CEMENTING ALABASTER, ETC. 293 

CEMENT FOR ALABASTER, MARBLE, &c.— Take a 
jiound of bees-wax, and half a pound of rosin, and melt them 
together. Have ready three-quarters of a pound of finely pow- 
dered alabaster, or powdered marble, (according to the article 
yrou wish to cement,) and add it gradually to the melted mix- 
ture, stirring the whole very well. Then knead the whole mass 
in water, that the ingredients may be thoroughly incorporated. 
You may add more of the powder, to bring it nearer to the 
colour of the article to be cemented. 

Before applying this cement it must be heated, and so must 
the parts of the subject you are going to unite ; they must also 
be thoroughly dry, and quite free from grease. 

The powder may be obtained from an alabaster or marble shop. 

For cementing plaster of Paris, make the mixture with pul- 
verized plaster. 

COMMON CEMENT Mix together half a pint of vinegar 

and half a pint of milk. When they have foirmed a curd, take 
the whey only, and mix it with the whites of five eggs, beating 
the whole very hard. Then sift in, gradually, sufficient quick- 
lime to convert the whole into a thick paste. This will be 
found useful for broken bowls, jugs, &c. Rub both the broken 
(jdges, and then cover the crack with it, allowing it a fortnight 

to dry. 

Another good cement may be made by mixing together equal 
quantities of melted glue, white of egg, and "white lead, and 
ooiling them. 

CEMENT FOR IRON KITCHEN UTENSILS.— Take 

six parts of yellow potter's clay, and one part of steel filings ; 
mix them together with a sufficient quantity of linseed oil to 
make a thick paste of the consistence of glazier's putty. Then 

25* 



294 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

apply it to the cracked parts, on both sides, and let it stand 
three or four weeks, undisturbed. 



CEMENT CAKES.— Take four ounces of the best glue, 
and two ounces of' ising-glass ; put thein into a common glue- 
kettle, with as much mild ale as will cover them. Dissolve 
them, over a slow fire, to the consistence of strong glue. Then 
add gradually, an ounce and a half of well-boiled linseed oil, 
stirring the whole very hard. Spread it out to cool, and then 
cut it into cakes ; in consistence, it will resemble India rubber. 
When wanted for use, boil a piece of it in a proportionate 
quantity of ale, till quite dissolved, and apply it hot. Then 
let the article rest till next day. 

It will unite wood, earthen-ware, china, &c. 

By adding a little tow to the solution, it will afford an excel- 
lent cement for leaks in casks, &c. 



COMMON PASTE FOR PAPER.—Take two table- 
spoonfuls of wheat flour, and mix it gradually with half a pint 
of cold water, carefully pressing out all the lumps, and making 
it very smooth. If you wnsh it thinner, add more water; 
another half pint will make it quite thin. Pour it into a sauce- 
pan or skillet, set it on hot coals, stir it frequently, and After it 
has come to a boil, let it continue boiling about five minutes. 
Then take it off, and put it to cool. 

A little powdered alum, (for instance, a half tea-spoonful to 
the above quantity,) stirred in while over the fire, is an im- 
provement t*" paste- making it more tenacious. 

In pas+ing paper on wood, first wet the paper all over with a 
clean sponge dipped in cold water; spread the paste on the 
wood, and lay on the paper while damp ; otherwise- 't --vill be 
in wrinkles, when dry. 



RYE PAalE, ETC. 295 

RYE PASTE. — For ver}'^ strong purposes, (wall paper, for 
instance,) the paste should be made of rye-^our, with the addi- 
tion of a little powdered rosin. 



COLD PASTE. — This can be obtained at any time, when 
it is not convenient to boil it, by keeping always in the house, 
a bottle of gum arable water, made in the proportion of an 
ounce of pulverized gum-arabic to a jill of water. Mix a little 
flour with barely water enough to dissolve it, making it very 
smooth, and free from lumps ; then add a little of the' solution 
of gum-arabic, diluting it with more water, if necessary. The 
gum will make this paste sufficiently adhesive for any common 
purpose, without boiling. 



COMMON GLUE. — Take a piece of glue, and melt it over 
coals in a small earthen glue-pot. When it has come to a boil, 
take it off, and apply it warm, by spreading it on with a small 
brush, or a flat stick. If it congeals before you are done with 
it, melt it again. While drying keep a string tied round the 
article glued. Water is required in boiling glue. 

RICE GLUE. — Mix together rice-flour and cold water, to a 
thick paste, pressing out all the lum.ps with a spoon, and 
making it very smooth. Then dilute it with a little more 
water, (altogether, you may allow a jill of water to a table- 
spoonful of rice-flour,) and boil it slowly, as long as you would 
boil starch ; stirring it frequently. When done, set it to cool. 
Use it for pasting fine paper, and for any little ornamental arti- 
cles made of paste-board. It is a very nice and durable cement. 

The water in which rice has been boiled for the table, will 
aflbrd a cement for slight purposes. 



296 



BED-CHAMBERS. 



REMARKS. 

It is customary to have the two principal bed-rooms furnished 
equally well ; the second being usually appropriated to visiters. 
Besides this, if the house is large, there may be other spare 
bed-rooms, fitted up in a plainer manner. It is not a good 
practice to keep articles belonging to the family, in the presses, 
closets, or bureaus of the spare bed-chambers. As most of 
these things have to be removed, (or, at least, ought to be,) 
wheii the room is«(for more than a few days) occupied by a 
visiter, it is better to place them permanently elsewhere. A 
female giiest, particularly, from requiring more space for her 
articles of dress, should have the entire use of all the receptacles 
in her apartment ; also, no lady can feel secure of the privacy of 
her room, if she knows that she is liable to be frequently dis- 
turbed at unseasonable times, by members of the family com- 
ing themselves, or sending servants to get things out of the 
tflosets, drawers,. &c., of the spare chamber. 



CHAIRS, SOFAS, &c. — In every chamber there is great 
convenience in having a rocking-chair, a stuffed easy chair, or 
something of the sort, and one or two footstools. Also, low 
cnairs^ to sit on when sewing, or when washing your feet. 
Large, deep sofas, with square pillows, are now considered 
essential articles of furniture in btd-rooms. These sofas are 
generally covered with furniture chintz, or dimity, or damasKed 



CII AMEER FURNITURE. 297 

brown linen; and are very useful in case of illness, or to recline 
on for an afternoon nap. IMany of them are made to contain a 
frame and a double mattrass, which can be drawn out at night, 
po as to furnish an extra bed, when necessary. Plain ones 
may be had in Philadelphia as low as forty dollars. They 
require great care in keeping clean, otherwise they may be 
infested with insects, 

A cheap substitute for a chamber-sofa is a long, broad settee 
of painted wt)od, furnished with a mattrass and square cushions, 
covered with chintz tied on with strings, and having a valance 
in front. 

The most convenient chairs for bed-rooms are of curled 
maple, with cane seats ; but if the other furniture is elegant, 
they will be considered too plain. In this case, handsome 
painted and gilt chairs will be more in accordance, the colour 
corresponding with that of the curtains. Mahogany chairs are 
generally considered too heavy and cumbrous for a chamber. 

Trunks and square wooden bonnet boxes may be made rather 
ornamental than otherwise to a chamber, by fitting them up as 
seats. To do this, have for the top of each trunk a brown 
linen cushion, stuffed with moss or hair, and made exactly to 
fit. For this cushion let there be an outside covering of chintz 
or some other material, (as handsome as you please,) with a 
binding, and a fringe or a frill all round, deep enough to conceal 
the place or crack where the lid opens. Then have a valance 
of the same, (either full or plain,) to nail, with small tacks, all 
round the sides and ends of the trunk, and descending to the 
floor. Fasten the cushion firmly to the top of the trunk, by 
tacks driven through the binding. By drawing out the tacks 
with a cl^w-hammer, the cushion and valance can be removeo 
when it is necessary to wash them, and when the trunk is 
wanted for travelling. We have seen an old champagne basket 



298 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

used in a bed-room as aTcceptacle for shoes ; and made quite 
ornamental by being cushioned and valanced in the above 
manner on the outside. 

There are chamber ottomans, with the wooden frame maae 
hollow inside, like a long box, for the purpose of containing 
the bed linen, &c. They stand in the recesses, and have stuffed 
seats and cushions, covered generally with chintz. 



RECEPTACLES FOR DRESSES, &c.— In* building or 
altering a house, it will be found an excellent plan to construct 
a range of large closets (three in number) between the two 
principal chambers on each floor; the central closet having two 
doors, (one opening into the front room and one into the back,) 
and two tiers of deep shelves. In summer, by throwing open 
both these doors, you may have a fine draught of air through 
the rooms. On the inside of each door let hooks be fixed for 
hanging up dresses. Of the other two closets, one may belong 
to each room ; or, if uniformity of doors is particularly desired, 
the middle closet (being the largest) may be appropriated to 
the occupants of one chamber, and the side closets to those of 
the other. 

A ward-robe, or commode, is an almost indispensable article 
of furniture for a chamber, particularly if there is no large closet 
or press. In spacious rooms occupied- by two persons, there 
are frequently two commodes. Those are perhaps most con- 
venient that have a tier of shelves on each side, and a space in 
the middle, furnished with two rows of large brass or iron 
hooks, on which to suspend dresses or coats ; the linen and 
smaller articles to be laid on the shelves. 

Exclusive of the large wardrobes that are tall enough to 
contain dresses hanging up, there is a smaller sort, about the 
size and height of a bureau, with four shelves instead of 



CHAMBER FURNITURE. 299 

drawers, all enclosed by a two-leaved door, opening in front. 
They stand on castors, and are made of mahogany or stained 
wood, and have advantages over bureaus,. as they preclude the 
trouble of pulling drawers in and out ; the whole being opened 
by a door, one lock suffices for all. Every thing that you 
would keep in a drawer can be laid just as conveniently on the 
shelves of one of these low commodes. 

There is frequently much trouble with the handles of bureau 
drawers, particularly if they are of glass, as they are very apt 
to come off in your hand. So, indeed, are the plated and brass 
handles. Those of mahogany keep their places best, and have 
been introduced very successfully on the handsomest bureaus. 
Unless the top of a bureau is of marble, it is usual to cover it 
with a white cloth, either of damask linen, or of dimity, fringed. 
If a drawer is apt to stick in damp weather, the inconvenience 
iray be remedied by nicely paring away with a knife a little 
of the wood on the side edges. 

Bandboxes are seldom used now, except for the convenience 
of conveying a cap, bonnet, or dress to the house of a friend or 
a milliner. They are rarely found among the baggage of a 
genteel female traveller ; square wooden boxes, with locks, 
keys, and handles, being substituted for them. These wooden 
boxes are generally tall enough to contain a folded dress under 
the bonnet or other millinery, and should be painted on the 
outside. They will last many years, will bear exposure, and 
can go outside with the resf of the baggage. Tall square 
leather trunks are sometimes used for carrying bonnets, &c. 
A paste-board bandbox ought to have a strong loop of twine^ 
red tape, or galloon, passed through one side, large enough to 
slip over the hand in carrying it. To secure the lid, bore two 
holes in it near the edge, one on each side, and pass through 
them strong pieces of string, each about a quarter of a yard in 



300 THE HOUSE BOO K. 

length, fastened by a knot on the inside. Make two corres- 
ponding holes near the upper edge of the bandbox itself, and 
pass a similar string -through each of them. Then put on the 
lid, and tie each pair of strings in a tight bow knot. There I 
no better way of keeping a bandbox fast. 



TOILET TABLES, MIRRORS, &c.— The most elegan 
dressing tables are of mahogany, with marble tops, having at 
the back a large mirror, with candle-branches or lamp-brackets 
on each side, and furnished with drawers to hold all the conve- 
niences of the toilet. Dressing tables of plain unpainted wood, 
with white covers, and valances of muslin made full and deep, 
and descending to the floor, are not yet quite out of use. For a 
common bed-room,, a toilet cover of fine buff-dyed cotton cloth, 
with a frill at the top to conceal the place where it is nailed on 
to the table, and set off with a purple or dark-brown binding, 
looks infinitely better than might be supposed ; and will appear 
clean much longer than one of white muslin. The small 
movable looking-glasses, standing on feet, are much out of 
favour for dressing tables, as they scarcely show more than 
your head, and are very easily upset. Instead of those, it is 
now customary to fix a large glass upon the wall at the back 
of the table or bureau ; suspending it by a double ribboh to a 
strono- hook, and making the string long enough to allow the 
glass to incline considerably forward, so as to give the persons 
that look into it a better view of their figures. For seeing the 
whole figure from head to foot, a cheval glass (also called a 
Psyche) is now a very general and useful piece of furniture in 
a handsome chamber. It is very large, stands on feet with 
castors, and can be made to incline backward or forward, as is 
most convenient. It has also on each side branches for lights. 
In every chamber should be a second glass small and easiJv 



CHAMBER FURMTURE. 301 

raoved, to take in your hand for the purpose of looking' at the 
back of your head and neck, after dressing ; the large glass 
oeing in front. This small back-glass -may be hung in a recess, 
or over the washing-stand, at a convenient height for seeing 
your teeth while cleaning them. 

On the toilet table keep always your dressing-case, your 
bottles of cologne, Florida water, &c., and a large pincushion, 
filled with pins of different sizes, including some that are very 
long and stout, for the purpose of pinning shawls. 

The best pins are those with pewter heads, as they do not come 
off, like the wire heads. In buying black pins, try several to 
see if they have good points and go in smoothly ; as many of 
them (particularly what they call the jet-black) are so rough and 
blunt as to be useless. Those of a bluish tinge are preferable. 
The little minikin pins are very useful for ribbons, frills, &c. 

In building a large house, it is very customary to connect a 
private dressing-room with each of the principal chambers. 
This room ought to have a good light, and also a fire-place ; 
and should of course contain whatever may be wanted for the 
purposes of washing and dressing. But in most American 
houses the business of the toilet is still performed in the sleep- 
ing-rooms. 

WASHING-STANDS, TABLES, &c.— The most elegant 
washing-stands are of mahogany, with marble tops ; they gene- 
rally having a closet underneath. To any washing-stand, (even 
to the plain ones that are made simply in the form of a table, 
with a drawer, and a shelf below,) a marble top is useful as well 
as ornamental ; mahogany or stained wood becoming very soon 
disfigured with wet and soap-stains. There should be sufficient 
space on the top of the washing-stand for a large basin, a 
large pitcher, a water-bottle that holds at least a quart, a 

26 



302 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

glass tumbler and a china mug; and also space to ao 
commodate the different china receptacles for soap, tooth 
brushes, nail-brushes, &c. Under it or near it a deep foot 
hath should be placed. These are either of white ware, or 
to match the basin and pitchers. On the left side have a 
wooden stand, (something like a circular stool,) to elevate 
the slop-bucket about a foot from the floor, which otherwise 
will be in danger of much splashing. A slop-bucket, for 
receiving the water that has been used, is, or .should be, an 
indispensable accompaniment to all washing stands. They are 
sometimes of maple, with brass hoops ; but we think painted 
tin slop-buckets far better than those of wood, as they can be 
kept clean more easily, and are not so apt to acquire an unplea- 
sant smell. On the left-hand of the washing-stand should be 
placed the towel-horse, which may be of mahogany, maple, or 
stained wood, having two bars across ; the upper bar being an 
inch or two below the top, and the lower one about fourteen 
inches farther down. If the second bar is placed too low, the 
towel hung on it, even when doubled, will trail on the floor. 
The feet of the towel-horse should be strong and heavy, that it 
may not be easily overset. Towel-horses may be obtained at 
a very .small cost, and no chamber should be without one, as 
the paint of a chair will soon become much defaced by the 
practice of hanging a wet towel over the back : so also will the 
wall. No towel should be less than a yard long. They may 
be of linen damask, thick bird's-eye diaper, or of white hucka- 
back. The last is the best for common use ; and if of the first 
quality, it wears better than any other towelling: its usual 
price is twenty-five cents per yard. Thin, low-priced towelling 
wears so badly that it is not worth buying ; and cotton towels 
are not used by persons of genteel habits. Foot towels are 
usually of (nick unbleached linen. 



B E D S T K A D S. 303 

There are large, deep washing-stands, that contain inside, 
the pitchers, basins, &c., and a broad, shallow slop-bucket, 
and have a lid to open with hinges, which, when shut down, 
conceals the whole, and makes it appear like a table. These 
stands are used in libraries, in offices, and to place in a recess 
of the passage, down stairs, for the convenience of washing 
hands, without going above. 

There are low wash-tables, for the convenien6e of washing 
very young children. They are made of proper height for the 
low chair on which the nurse sits, while she is performing 
this office. They have a shelf beneath, to contain the pitcher ; 
and in the top is cut a small hole for the soap-cup, and a large 
one for the basin, which should be very capacious; so that 
the baby, in its earliest infancy, may be immersed in it, and 
when older, may be seated on the table, with its feet in the 
water. 

A table, to use when writing or sewing, is an indispensable 
article of furniture to a chamber. Writing materials ought to 
be kept in every bed-room, that they may be ready for use, 
when wanted ; a work-box will not be omitted in an apartment 
belonging to a lady. A hanging shelf. Tor books, is far better 
than to lay them about the mantel-piece, or on the top of the 
bureau. 



BEDSTEADS. — In providing your chambers with bedsteads, 
it is always best to purcTiase them all quite new ; otherwise, you 
never can be certain of their being perfectly clean, and free from 
insects which the approach of warm weather may bring out 
For a large and handsomely furnished chamber, no bedsteaa 
looks so well as the square, high post, with curtains. What 
are called French low post bedsteads, are preferred by many 
persons, who have an objection to curtains. We think, however 



304 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

(to say nothing of the dreary and comfortless appearance of a 
curtainless bed, in cold weather, particularly when a sick per- 
son is lying in it,) that the winter climate of most parts of 
America is such as to render curtains highly desirable at that 
season, to all who can conveniently procure them. It is not 
necessary to draw them closely all round ; but if the heads of 
the sleepers were always screened from the cold air of a cold 
room, there would, perhaps, be fewer tooth-aches, rheumatic 
pains, coughs, and sore-throats. Still, there is one very serious 
objection to bed-curtains, in the rooms of children, or of any 
persons that are not habitually careful ; the danger of their 
being set on fire. When this accident does happen, it may 
sometimes (if instantly perceived) be extinguished, by catch- 
ing up the end of the curtain, and with both hands squeezing 
and crumpling it down upon the burning part, so as to smother 
or crush out the flame. 

Unless the room is so small, that it cannot be fixed other- 
wise, no bed should be placed with one side against the wall, 
particularly in summer, as that position impedes the free 
circulation of air round the sleeper, greatly increases the heat, 
and seldom fails to produce insects. A room must indeed be 
small that will not, by judicious arrangement, allow of some 
space on both sides of the bed ; and even a little is better than 
none. 

What are called canopy beds are generally placed with one 
side against the wall, that a beam or circular block may be 
fixed in it, from which the curtains are to descend. This is 
not necessary for canopy curtains, if the bedstead is made ac- 
cording to a new and excellent French fashion, of a low post 
oedstead, with two high poles directly opposite ; one rising 
from the centre of the head-board, and one from the foot-board. 
Both are connected at the top by a corresponding bar oi 



PUTTING UP BEDSTEADS. 305 

horizontal pole, over which, the curtains are arranged by large, 
movable brass rings. These curtains are in the form of a tent, 
only that they hang full and open, both at the sides and at 
the head and foot. They consist of four long straight pieces, 
having three breadths in each. They are looped up, or tied at 
the four knobs of the low posts; and when let down, and 
closed, they descend to' the floor. The head only of this bed- 
stead is against the wall. It is called the French double pole 
bedstead. 



TO PUT UP BEDSTEADS.— The windlass bedsteads, 
that are now so much in use, are very easily put up. They are 
in four parts ; all of which must be stood up together, held by 
four persons, and closely fitted into each other at the corners. 
Then the winch or stick that is sent with the bedstead must 
be put into the hole, at one of the sides, and wrenched round 
with a strong arm. This tightens the whole of the wood-work, 
and nothing more is to be done but to lace the sacking tightly 
over the pins. 

To put up a high four-post bedstead, you must- have the 
small iron instrument called a bed-key. Place the two head- 
posts near that part of the wall where the bed is to stand, 
and lay the foot-posts on the floor, at a proper distance below 
The pieces should all have marks or numbers, to designate 
those that match each other. Place each foot-post opposite to 
its corresponding head-post. Next, lay the long or side-pieces 
in their proper places, then the short or end-pieces that go at 
the head and foot. Then put one long and one short screw at 
each comer of the bedstead. *The assistance of four persons 
will now be required, to rear up the four posts, and set in the 
sides. Next, slip the head-board into the groves ; and then 

proceed with the bed-key to turn and fasten the screws firmly 

26* 



306 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

The four long screws are intended to screw into the sides, ami 
the four short ones int6 the ends. The screw holes into which 
they are inserted are under the little round brass plates, which 
must be turned aside to get at them. Next, lace up the sack- 
ing; to do which well, and to secure its knots firmly, will 
require the strength of a man. Finally, get on the movable 
wooden steps, (such as is used in all houses for putting up 
and taking down upholstery,) and fix the four pieces of the top- 
rail, by slipping the holes at the end of each, over the spikes 
at the top of each bed-post. 

If there is a straight cornice at the top of the whole, it is 
best to put it on after the curtains are up. 

If there is no permanent mark upon the diiferent pieces of a 
bedstead, mark them yourself, with a pencil, previous to taking 
them down, that you may know how to fit them when put up 
again. 

Tent bedsteads, with curved tops, are put up in a similar 
manner, with a bed-key ; taking care to fix firmly the ribs that 
support the roof. 

In summer, a large bed is far more pleasant than a small 
one ; as it enables you, when one part becomes warm, to remove 
to the other, which is comparatively cool. 



BED-CURTAINS.— These may be of chintz, damask, rich 
silk, or broad-striped dimity. The last will, of course, bear 
washing perfectly well, but will also require it once at least in 
the course of the season ; and an opportunity of doing it should 
be taken when the weather happens to be somewhat mild. 
Chean aftd very well-looking curtains may be made of thick 
domestic shirting muslin, dyed of a fine buif, with aronetta and 
pot-ash, and trimmed with worsted fringe, or a binding of 
purple, dark brown, dark green, or crimson ; to be ripoed olT 



BED-CURTAINS. 307 

when w ashed, Avhich will not be necessary before spring. The 
upper valance need not be made full. It will look very well 
plain, cut into large deep scollops or Vandykes, the edges deco- 
rated with coloured binding or fringe. Curtains for square or 
high-post beds are frequently made in long, straight, full pieces, 
without any drapery or festooning, running with rings on a 
brass rod round the top of the bed. The foot-valance of a bed 
should always hang full ; it is fixed by tacking the binding 
with small nails along the frame of the bedstead. 

The best sort of chintz curtains are generally lined with 
coloured glazed muslin. This lining must be taken out and 
renewed whenever the curtains are washed. 

The bed-curtains and window-curtains should of course be 
of the same material, and corresponding in form. Their colour 
should contrast well with that of the wall, which in chambers 
(as in all other rooms) will look best of a light or pale tint. 

Curtains of figured or damasked brown linen, though not 
handsome, are very lasting and economical ; and may be set 
ofT with a bright coloured fringe or binding. 

All curtains ought to be well shaken every day, and frequently 
brushed between the folds with a hand-brush. To prevent the 
dust from accumulating on the top or tester, cover it with sheets 
of cartridge paper, (or very stout brown,) the edges laid over 
each other. These will receive the dust which would other- 
wise lodge and accumulate on the tester, and they can easily 
be removed, brushed off, and returned to their places. To 
make those more accessible that cover the middle part of the 
tester, the edges of several sheets had best be pasted together 
so as to form a large square. 

In summer, after the curtains are taken down and put away, 
it is well, on a high post bedstead, to have a tester and top- 
valance of dimity or white muslin ; otherwise the bare posts 



308 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

and top-rail will look naked and ungainly. There should also 
be a white foot-valance to correspond. 

It is usual at the head of the bed, to have watch-pockets of 
the same material as the curtains. If there are no curtains, the 
watch-pockets may be of velvet or of buckskin. 

By the side of a high bed it is customary to have steps for 
the purpose of ascending it easily. Bed steps are generally of 
mahogany, covered with Brussels carpeting. 



BEDDING. — Many persons think it conducive to health to 
sleep very hard. This is only the case with peculiar constitu- 
tions. Generally speaking, most people will sleep more com- 
fortably, and feel more refreshed afterwards, on a moderately 
soft bed or mattrass. Even in summer, and in warm climates, 
a mattrass should not be so hard as to have no elasticity. If 
the mattrass is sufficiently thick to prevent the feather bed 
beneath from rising or swelling around you, the proper end is 
answered as far as health is in question; and certainly the 
comfort is much greater than if all beneath you is so hard and 
compact that you cannot but feel as if sleeping almost on a 
floor of wood or stone ; as is often the case, when a thick, solid, 
hair mattrass has nothing under it but one equally solid of 
straw. We believe there are few grown persons who, during 
the severity of an American winter, would really find their 
health impaired by sleeping with the feather-bed on the top of 
the mattrass ; and few that, in the summer, would find them 
selves too warm by having a feather-bed, instead of a paillasse, 
underneath a mattrass of moderate thickness. Domestics and 
working people, when they sleep on very hard bedding, fre 
quently complain of rising in the morning as tired as when they 
went to bed, and of feeling as if they had not strength to go 



BEDDING. 309 

about their work. Children, no doubt, suffer much from the 
same cause. 

Mattrasses of horse-hair are cooler than those of wool-. The 
long- southern moss is frequently used as stuffing for mattrasses. 
The mattrass should fit the bedstead exactly ; so also should 
the bed. 

Linen bed-ticking is far the best ; that of cotton stripe^. though 
lowest in price, is eventually the most expensive, as it lasts 
but a short time, and the feathers are continually coming throug'h 
it. When a tick becomes so old and thin as not to retain the 
feathers well, it is best to get a new one, as the daily loss of 
feathers will soon materially diminish the si^ie of the bed. It 
is well for the chambermaid to keep a paper bag, in which to 
save the feathers that she finds on the floor. 

Beds, bolsters, and pillows are not comfortable unless they 
are large and full, and well stuffed with feathers ; it is a pitiful 
economy to put in so small a quantity that th.ey become nearly 
flat as soon as you lie down on them. Each bed should have 
♦wo pillows ; and it is well to have some extra ones in the 
house, in case of illness. The bolsters ought to have white 
linen cases, as well as the pillows. There is no real economy 
in buying cotton sheets and pillow-cases, even for servants' 
beds ; as cotton, besides being very uncomfortable in summer, 
lasts but a short time ; and when it begins to get old, it tears 
unexpectedly in all directions. Linen bedding is universal in 
genteel families ; except when winter sheets of thick cotton 
may be preferred, as somewhat warmer in very cold weather. 
For servants' beds, Russia sheeting is the best and most durable. 
For a large double bed, it is well to have each sheet three 
yards .ong and two yards and a half wide, that there may be 
plenty to tuck in, particularly if there is no bolster-case. To 
save a little linen, sheets are often cnt out «o short and so nai 



310 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

row, that, as they can be tucked in nowhere, they keep then 
places nowhere, and are uncomfortable all night. For a single 
bed, the length must be the same as for a double one, but two 
yards will be wide enough. . When a sheet that has been long 
in use becomes thin in the middle, it may be turned by ripping 
down the seam, and then sewing up the two outer selvages, 
which will bring together the strongest and best part of each 
breadth. All the bed-linen should be marked with the whole 
name of the family; and each pair of sheets and pillow-cases 
should have the same number or figure, so as to designate the 
different sets. In making pillow-cases, -let them be large 
enough to admit the pillow easily. They are frequently frilled 
at the ends, and fastened with buttons. They look very white 
and nice with an under-case of thick white muslin. " 

Pillows stuffed with bits of clean paper, cut about half an 
inch square, are said to be very soft and cool. Hop pillows 
are sometimes recommended to invalids, or persons who sleep 
badly. To repose comfortably on a square French pillow, 
stuffed with hair, requires some practice. 

Except in very cold climates, it will not be necessary to allot 
more than three blankets to each bed ; beginning with one in 
the autumn, and adding the second and the third as the weather 
grows colder. The blankets should be larger every way than 
the bed, to allow for tucking in, and for turning down at the 
head. Blankets of the best quality will last many years. A^ 
the close of spring they should always be washed before they 
art put away. Where the winters are very severe, eider down 
quilts and cotton comfortables are frequently used, in additior 
to one or two blankets. 



TO KEEP BLANKETS THROUGH THE SUMMER. 

-— S; 'A %. ^^r^e coarse sheet on the floor. Fold up the blan- 



BED COVERS. 311 

kets and place them on it, having sprinkled betvreen every fol(\ 
either shreds of tobacco, or bits of camphor. Shavings of 
Russia leather are also a remedy against moths. Having piled 
the blankets smoothly, put the remainder of the sheet round 
them and over them, and pin it up tightly in various places. 
Then lay the whole in a large chest or in a dark closet. Let 
them remain imopened all summer. In the autumn, after tho 
warm weather is entirely over, have the blankets all brought 
down on a fine dry day, and hang them out on lines to dispel 
the scent of the tobacco, if you have used it as a preservative. 
In putting away your blankets, always leave out a few, 
(allowing one for each bed,) in case of a very cool night, such 
as sometimes occurs in the summer season, and also that they 
may be at hand to begin with, as soon as the warm weather 
is over. 



BED COVERS.— White Marseilles quilts keep clean much 
longer than the knotted white counterpanes. They are not, 
however, so durable ; as the surface of a Marseilles quilt, being 
fine and thin, soon wears off. They may afterwards be covered 
with an outside of fine, white, thick muslin, and quilted over 
again. Patch-work quilts of old calico are only seen in inferior 
chambers ; but they are well worth making for servants' beds. 
The custom of buying new calico, to cut into various ingenious 
figures, for what was called handsome patch-work, has become 
obsolete. Quilts are now made entirely of the same sort of 
dark calico or furniture chintz; the breadths being run together 
in straight seams, stuffed with cotton, lined with plain white 
or buff-dyed thick muslin, and quilted simply in diamonds, 
shells, or waves. For a large double bed, a quilt or any other 
cover should be three yards long, and about three yards 
wide. It is usual to have a quilt Oi« bed-spread of the same 



312 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

chintz as the curtains. For very elegant beds, the covers are 
ifpnerally of silk or damask, (also to match the curtains,) with 
a silk lining, and a trimming of fringe to correspond. 

Summer bed-covers are usually of furniture chintz or of 
dimity, with a binding all round; and, if you choose, a cotton 
fringe. They should have no lining, or they will be too warm 
for the season. In many families, unlined spreads of furniture 
chintz are used in winter as well as in summer, depending for 
warmth on a .sufficiency of blankets. This we think a good 
plan, as it enables you more easily to regulate the covering 
according to the temperature of the weather. 

The old-fashioned country coverlets, woven of coloured yarn, 
are still used in country houses. They have the advantage of 
being light as well as warm, are extremely durable, and wash 
well. It is best to have little or no white in them. 



WASHING A COLOURED QUILT.— Make, in a very 
large tub, a suds of brown soap and water that is not very warm ; 
adding a small tea-cupful of ox-gall to set the colours of the 
calico. Put in the quilt, and wash it well. Afterwards wash 
it through a second suds, and wring it very dry. Then rinse 
it through three cold waters, wringing it very hard out of the 
last. Hang it immediately out to dry, with the wrong side 
outwards. An hour or two before evening, turn the right side 
out. Take it in at sunset, and fold it up. Next morning, hang 
U out again ; as one day (even in summer) is not sufficient to 
dry a quilt thoroughly, the cotton with which it is stuffea 
remaining damp a long time in the inside. Towards the end 
of the second day bring it in, fold it up, and (if it is perfectly 
<iry) put it away. A quilt cannot be ironed. It is best to 
wash them late in the spring, when they are no longer required 
for the beds ; they will then be ready for the cold weather. 



WASiiixNU (iuilt;3, etc. 313 

In a similar manner you may wash a cliiiitz beJ-^prcu'l, in 
two luke-warm lathers, (as hot water will certainly fade it,) 
with two table-spoonfuls of ox-gall stirred into the first suds. 
A spread (being single) will dry much sooner than a quilt, and 
must be sprinkled and folded, and afterwards ironed on the 
wrong side. In eacfi rinsing water put a spoonful of vinegar. 

TO WASH A MARSEILLES QUILT, OR A WHITE 
COUNTERPANE. — Put it to soak over-night in a large tub 
with luke-warm water, (in which has been mixed about a quart 
of lye,) and rub some brown soap on the quilt. Next morning, 
wash it up and down a while in the soaking water ; then wring 
it. out, and put it into a clean tub of warm soap-suds, and give 
it a good washing. Then do the same through a second su^s, 
(hotter than the first,) and wring it out very hard. Rinse it 
through three cold waters ; adding to the last a little blue from 
the indigo bag. Having wrung the counterpane very dry, hang 
it out in the sun, wrong side outward ; taking it in towards 
evening. Next day, hang it out again, with the right side out. 
It may probably take three days to dry completely. It must 
on no account be.put away with the slightest dampness about it. 

In washing a quilt or counterpane, never use soda. 



TO MAKE COTTON COMFORTABLES.— These are 

soft thick quilts, used as substitutes for blankets, and laid under 
the bed-spread. One of them is equal in warmth to three heavy 
blankets ; and they are excellent in cold winters for persons 
who like to sleep extremely warm. In chambers with fire, oi 
in a room that has had a fire all day, a comfortable will gene- 
rally be found too warm a covering, except in severe weather. 
It is best to use them in cold apartments only. If the house 
siiould be crowded with guests, so as to cause a scarcity of 



314 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Ijeds, a thick comfortable may be found a convcnienl substitute 
for a mattrass. 

Early m the spring-, all the comfortables belonging to the 
house should be washed and put away tiL winter. 

A comfortable for a large or double bed ought to be three 
yards long and three yards wide. You may make it of glazed 
coloured muslin, (in which case it cannot be washed,) or of fur- 
niture chintz, or cheap calico. It is best to have both the lining 
and the outside of the same material. Having run the breadths 
together, place it in a quilting-frame, and lay on the cotton bats 
thickly and evenly, each one a very little over the edge of the 
other. A comfortable of the above size will require three 
pounds of carded cotton bats. It should be quilted in very large 
diamonds, laid out with chalk and a long ruler, or with a cord 
line . dipped in raw starch, wetted to a thin paste with cold 
water. In quilting a comfortable, you need not attempt to take 
close, short stitches. 

In laying the cotton between the lining and the outside, leave 
unshiffed about half a yard on each side and at the bottom; but 
continue the stuffing quite up to the top or head of the comfort- 
able. Let the thin part, however, be quilted ihe same as the 
rest. By thus leaving a thin border round the sides and bottom, 
you prevent the inconvenience so often objected to comfortables, 
their tendency to slip off the bed; as the thin part can be easily 
lucked in, so as to secure it perfectly from all danger of sliding 
out of place. 



TO MAKE A SILK QUILT— This is a light and con 
venient article for a couch or for a child's crib, and will be 
found extremely useful in a sick-room. It can be made very 
economically out of two silk dresses, after the bodies are past 
wear. Take the two skirts and (first removing with Wilming* 



MAKING SILK QUILTS, ETC. 315 

* 

ton clay any grease-spots that may be on them) rip them apart, 
turn tliera, and sew them together again. You may add to the 
length by taking the two sleeves, cutting them straight after 
ripping them open, and joining them across the top of the 
breadths. After all the silk has been turned and re-sewed, 
sprinkle and fold it, and iron it on the wrong side, pressing tho 
seams well. Take care that the irons are not very hot, or they 
will discolour th<^ silk. Then put it into a quilting frame, and 
lay in one thickness of the glazed cotton wadding in sheets. 
Quilt it in large diamonds. 

In most families, at least one quilt a year might be made of 
left-off silk dresses, exclusive of those that may be converted 
into petticoats. The skirts of two silk dresses w-ill make a 
very good winter petticoat, interlining them with cotton wad- 
ding. They should first be ripped apart, ironed smoothly, and 
turned. If you have not a quilting-frame at hand, you may 
quilt a petticoat on a large table, or by spreading it on a bed. 
The most convenient way will be to quilt the breadths sepa- 
rately, (each with its wadding and lining,) and then to sew 
them together afterwards. They should be quilted in large 
diamonds, with three or four straight rows along the bottom of 
the petticoat, which ought afterwards to be bound with very 
stout ribbon or broad galloon. 

A wadded petticoat may be made without quilting, by tack- 
ing or basting the sheets of wadding to the lining, as is done 
in making a cloak or a pelisse. It should be basted with very 
strong sewing-silk in long needlefuls ; taking care to tie firmly 
the end of every fresh needleful to the end left of the last. 
Run several straight rows along the bottom after you have put 
on the Dutside silk. 



316 T H E II O U S E n O }v. 

TO MAKE UP A BED.— As soon as the bed is vacated, 
fasten back the curtains, (if there are any,) and let the clothes 
be all taken off, and spread separately over the chairs; the pil- 
lows and bolsters placed near the w^indows, and the bed turned 
up towards the head, or pulled down at the foot, so as to expose 
the sacking to the air. This should be done by the occupant 
of the bed, immediately on rising, before she begins to wash 
and dress. The sashes should be raised, (unless the weather 
is rainy,) and the room ought to be thoroughly ventilated, for 
at least an hour, even in the winter season. If the weather 
is such, that rain or snow is likely to come in at the windows, 
on quitting the room leave the door open, or at least a-jar, that 
as much air may be admitted as possible. The atmosphere of 
no apartment can be wholesome, unless it is well ventilated, at 
least once a day. Besides which, a room continually closed, 
and a bedstead, from which the bedding is not removed till the 
moment before it is to be made up, will infallibly produce in- 
sects. The sashes should be kept raised, while the bed is 
making. 

When the bed is sufficiently aired, turn it over, and with 
both hands, take it by the middle, and shake it well in every 
part, and smooth it evenly : taking care not to have it higher at 
the foot, than at the head. If there is a mattrass above the 
bed, turn up the lower half of the mattrass, and shake up that 
part of the bed ; then turn down the upper half of the mattrass, 
and shake and smooth the upper part of the bed ; and then fix 
the mattrass evenly. Next, spread on the under sheet, tucking 
it in all round under the sides of the mattrass ; so as to keep it 
smooth and even, and to prevent its wrinkling, dragging, anc 
getting out of place during the night. If it has a white linen 
ease, shake up the bolster well, and lay it on after the imdei 
sheet. If it has no case, draw np this sliret more to the head, 



MAKINGUPABED. 317 

and tuck it well over the back of the bolster, but do not stretch 
the under-sheet tightly, so as to drag the bolster down at night, 
causing it to get beneath the shoulders of the sleeper. Lay it 
easy, and pat it with your hands into the hollow between the 
bolster and the bed. Next, spread on the upper-sheet, tucking 
it well under at the bottom, lest it get loose and out of place 
at night. You need not tuck it at the two sides, as you did 
the under-sheet. Then, if there are blankets, lay them on 
smoothly, securing them in place by tucking them in at the 
bottom and at the lower corners. Next, put on the spread or 
counterpane, taking care to have it smooth and even, and turn- 
ing it down at the head with the upper-sheet. Then beat up 
the pillows and lay therti in their places, the open ends 
outwards. 

Before you sweep the room, it will be well to cover the 
whole of the bed with an old sheet, or something of the sort, 
kept for the purpose in a closet. This will screen the bed from 
the dust. 

If the counterpane is white, fold it up on the wrong side, 
and do not put it on the bed, till after the room is swept and 
dusted. If there are curtains, keep them fastened back, and 
take up the long ends of the falls, and place them on the bed, 
that they may be out of the way while you are sweeping and 
dusting. Also turn up the valance. After the room is swept, 
the curtains should be well shaken, and tke dust brushed out 
of the folds with a hand-brush. M least once a week, the 
upper part ai^d the tester should be brushed thoroughly. You 
can reach them, by standing on the bed-steps, (if there are 
any,) or on the movable steps with which most houses are 
provided, or by getting on a high chair. If dust is allowed to 
accumulate in bed-curtains, it will cause bugs. 

Of course, the bed must always be made before thp mom is 



318 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

swept. But if there is to be a fire in the room, that should be 
kindled first, and the hearth put in order before any thing 
else is done. 

In some families, it is the custom to have in each chamber 
a long deep tub painted white ; and a large stone pitcher of 
warm water, is left every morning at the room door. By this 
means, a tepid bath can be taken immediately on rising; and 
this, to some constitutions, is more conducive to health than a 
cold bath, particularly in warm weather. 



CLEANING A BED-ROOM.— If a fire is to \m made in 
the chamber, that, oi course, must be done the first thing, 
taking up and carrying away the ashes, sweeping the hearth, 
(which must afterwards be washed with a wet cloth,) and if 
it is a coal-grate, putting up the blower. Next, if there is a 
hearth-rug, or loose bed-side carpets, take them up, fold them, 
and lay them in the passage or out in the balcony, till they can 
be carried into the yard and shaken. Having washed your 
hands, proceed to make the bed. It is well, instead of putting 
on the counterpane at once, to fold it wrong side out, and lay 
it in that manner on the bed, till the sweeping and dusting is 
over. Cover the whole bed (bolster and pillows also) with a 
large old sheet or something of the sort, kept for the purpose 
of screening the bedding from dust while the room is cleaning. 
Then, having broif^ht with you a large painted tin slop-bucket 
with a close cover, empty all the slops, and replace the covet. 
Throw a towel over the empty pitchers, &c., to keep the dusl 
out of them. It will then be time to take down the blower 
The next thing is to sweep the room, beginning under the bed, 
which should be mov-ed out if you cannot otherwise make clean 
the floor beneath. A damp mop is an excellent thing for collect- 
ing and bringing out- the flue from under the bed, wardrobe, &c 



CLEANING BED- ROOMS. 310 

Also, sweep carefully under the drawers, tables, &c., and behind 
the trunks or boxes, leaving no dust or cobwebs in the corners 
of the room. 

If there are clippings, scraps of paper, or threads about the 
carpet, pick them up before you begin to sweep. When you 
have nearly done, open the door, at which you should have a 
tin dust-pan and a hand-brush, and sweep into the pan all tlie 
dust, &c., from the room. By the time you have carried away 
the slop-bucket and the dust-pan, the loose dust that has been 
raised by the broom will have settled. Then, with a soft dust- 
ing-cloth, go first over the surbase, not forgetting the door-lock, 
door-panels, and window-frames, and then over all the furniture ; 
shaking your cloth frequently out of the window, the sash of 
which should be open all the time you are doing the room. Shake 
the curtains well ; and if there are Venetian blinds, dust the 
slats as high as you can reach. Dust also the mantel-piece, 
fire-irons, &c. For the looking-glass and pictures have a clean 
cloth. When you have thoroughly dusted every thing in the 
room, bring some warm water and two clean cloths, and wash 
and wipe (inside and out) all the crockery belonging to the 
apartment, beginning with the glasses and pitchers, and not 
forgetting the receptacles for the soap and the tooth-brushes. 
Then, having wiped the washing-stand, set every thing in its 
place, and arrange nicely all the articles on the toilet, the table, 
and the mantel-piece. Afterwards bring back and lay down 
the loose carpets, spread the counterpane properly on the bed, 
and arrange the curtains. Next, bring in a large clean bucket 
of fresh water, (which should be furnished either with a tin 
d'ppei 3r a spout,) £ind fill the pitchers and water-bottle. Hang 
c^ean towels on the towel-horse, leaving there the wet one that 
has been made use of that morning, spread out to dry. It may 
be used during the day by the occupant of the chamber, for any 



320 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

purpose for which it might not be necessary to take a perfectly 
clean towel. Besides the fine towels, there should be on the 
horse a thick one for washing the feet. If it is summer, bow 
the shutters or let down the blinds before you leave the 
room. 

In the evening, after tea, go round to all the rooms with your 
^lop-bucket, empty the things, and then bring fresh water to 
replenish the pitchers. See that the horse is supplied with 
clean towels, that the night-lights are in order, and the shutters 
fastened, if in winter. 

Some chambermaids have an absurd practice of filling the 
pitchers with the fresh water before they make the bed and 
sweep the room, instead of deferring it to the last. This should 
be forbidden ; as, when done first, the surface of the fresh water 
will be covered with flue and dust during the progress of the 
bed-making and sweeping. 

In some families it is the custom for the chambermaids to 
have all the bed-rooms on hand at once ; first going round and 
making all the beds ; then sweeping all the rooms ; then dust- 
ing them all ; and lastly performing a tour with th^ fresh water 
and clean towels. This is a most inconvenient practice ; as it 
keeps all the chambers unfinished, and in disorder, nearly the 
whole morning; so that not one of them can be occupied, when, 
perhaps, there are persons in the house who are particularly 
desirous of having possession of their rooms as soon as possible. 
The best and most convenient way is completely to finish the 
'vork of every room (including the fresh water and clean towels) 
before you begin another. Also, if done separately, they are 
usually cleaned with more care than when hurried through by 
wholesale. If there are visiters in the house, let their chambers 
be done first. The bed-room of an early riser may easily he 
put in order before breakfast, if required. 



WARMING TEDS, ETC. 321 

TO WARM A BED.— The most usual manner is witli n 
long-handled brass warming-pan, filled with hot coals, and 
moved all over the under sheet; the upper bed-clothes beino- 
turned down to admit it. The heat produced by a warming- 
pan is, however, very soon gone. A bed may be kept warm 
much longer by heating a brick in the oven of a stove, wrapping 
it up closely in a large, thick, old cloth, folded several times 
round the brick to prevejit its burning the sheets, and putting 
it mto the bed near the foot, seeing that it is not too hot. An- 
other way of warmJng a person in bed is, to take a large black 
bottle, fill it with hot water, cork it tightly, wrap a cloth round 
it. and lay it against the soles of the feet; having ready a 
second bottle of hot water to replace the first when it becomes 
cool. 

Square foot-covers of waddled silk, slightly quilted, are excel- 
lent to wrap round the feet, if cold, when lying down. They 
are still better if stuffed with eider-down. 

There are little hand-baskets, lined with fur, to put the feet 
in while riding in a carriage when the weather is very cold, or 
while on a sleighing party. 

Small portable foot-stoves of perforated tin, set in a wooden 
frame, and containing a little iron pan to be filled with hot 
coals, are excellent for keeping the feet warm -in winter, when 
fitting still. They cost but a trifle, and no house should be 
without them, particularly where wood is burnt. 



TO DETECT DAMPNESS IN BEDS.— First have the 
bed well warmed with a warming-pan. Then, the moment tlie 
pan is taken out, introduce between the sheets an inverted glass 
tumbler. After it has remained there a few minutes, withdraw 
it. If the glass is found dry, you may go to bed without any 
apprehensions of chill or rheumatism. If the glass is covers,*! 



322 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

with drops of wet or damp steam, your safest way will be to 
take off the sheets and sleep between the blankets ; as you may 
most probably be unable to obtain a second pair that are dryer 
than the first. 

Many persons have caught severe colds by sleeping on new 
beds, the feathers of which were not sufficiently dry. Before 
a new bed is slept on, it should be exposed several days to the 
hot sun, or warmed in a stove-room. , 



TO STOP THE CRACKS OF DOORS AND WIN- 
DOWS. — Before the cold season commences, the window-% 
sashes of the chambers should be made tight, and the doors 
secured against the admission of currents of air when shut. 
This will scarcely be necessary in a very well built house, 
where the doors and windows all fit perfectly, and where the 
wood-work, being well seasoned, has not shrunk. 

Where there are large cracks at the bottom of the door, have 
a thick slip of wood nailed on the floor outside. A similar slip 
may be nailed along the side of the door-case where it opens 
We have seen these laths covered with green baize sewed on 
tightly, and the nails driven through the baize only. Also, 
keep the key always in the lock, as a strong draught of air 
rushes through an open key-hole. For inferior rooms you may 
nail a stout slip of listing (the selvage of cloth) all along the 
outside of the crack ; taking it off in the spring. We have 
seen, in old-fashioned houses, gilt or morocco leather (pinked 
or scolloped at the edge) tacked with gilt or brass nails round 
the crack of a door ; and as it was considered ornamental as 
well as useful, it was left there all summer. A long narrow 
bag, made of carpeting or thick- cloth, and filled hard with sand, 
will somewhat lessen the draught at the bottom of a door, if 
laid on the floor outside 



NURSERIES. 323 

For the outside doors, and those of the best rooms down 
stairs, it is usual, to have a broad, thick, brass ledge fastened 
to the floor, so as to screen the crack at the bottom of the door. 

In the chamber of an invalid, it is well to have a tall, stand- 
ing screen, placed just within the door, that when it is opened, 
ihe rush of cold air may be felt less sensibly. 

In a very severe climate, where it is thought best not to raise 
the sashes during the winter, they may be made air-tight, by 
pasting slips of thick paper over the cracks, fitting them neatly ; 
or by nailing all round the window-frame, laths covered with 
baize. Some persons stuff the cracks with wadding, put in 
with the point of a knife or scissors. There is frequently, how- 
ever, great difficulty in removing the wadding in the spring; 
bits of it working in so far, and sticking in so fast, as to pre- 
vent the sash from going up and dowm. A window-sash may 
be kept very tight, by merely sticking into the cracks, several 
little wedges of wood two or three inches long, about an inch and 
a half wide, and shaved quite thin towards one of the ends. 
Any boy can make them out of a slip of thin board. They 
can be pulled out in a minute, when it is necessary to raise the 
sash, and replaced as easily when it is shut down. 

In the north, most of the windows are made with double 
sashes, as preventives to draughts of cold air. 



NURSERIES. — The children's apartment is too frequently 
one of the least comfortable in the house, being either a damp 
gloomy division of the basement story, or else a narrow room 
in what is called the back building, excessively warm in sum- 
mer, by reason of its having a low ceiling, and windows facing 
the beams of the afternoon sun. It is important to the health 
or all children, that the nursery should be large, airy, and 
cheerful in its aspect ; and that it should be comfortably warm 



324 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

in winter, and cool in summer. K it opens into a balcony, so 
much the better. If not, the children should be secured from 
the danger of falling out, by iron bars placed across the lower 
part of the windows. We have seen iron window-guards made 
very ornamental, by being cast in the form of trellis-work, and 
painted green. If there are no guards at the bottom, the sash 
should only be opened by letting it down at the top. 

At the head of the stair-case nearest to the nursery, we have 
.seen a gate like that of a paling fence, with a fastening that 
could not be opened by a small child ; and all the bars or laths 
were perpendicular, to prevent the possibility of climbing on 
them. 

The nursery fender should be very high, and firmly fixed, so 
as not to be easily removed or overset. If there is a close 
stove let it be surrounded by a high screen of block tin. The 
tables should have no sharp corners ; neither should there be 
projecting shelves within reach of the children's heads; nor 
an)r hooks or nails in the lower part of the wall. Have a suffi- 
cient number of low chairs and stools, and a small low table, 
on which the children can " make their feasts." There should 
be a closet, in which all their play-things may be collected 
and put away at night. Slight gaudy toys, that are merely 
for show, aflford no amusement to children. They do not like 
play-things that they cannot play with. A rag-doll, (as babies 
of stuffed linen are most disrespectfully called,) with plain 
clothes, that can be put on and taken off at pleasure, and 
washed when dirty, and that can be thrown about without 
danger of injury, will give far more enjoyment to a little girl, 
than a splendid, but fragile effigy of wax or plaster, in habili- 
ments of satin, and gauze, and spangles : very showy, but every 
pa^t of the dress sewed on fast, and immovable. Miniature 
articles of crockery, tin, and wooden ware; nine-pins; blocks 



riiE ATTICS. 3'!5 

for building houses ; little carts ; wheelbarrows, &;c. ; are always 
interesting and agreeable to children ; most of whom also take 
great pleasure in a slate and pencil. Their slates should be 
small, (of six. cent size, for instance,) and furnished with two 
long twine strings, one for the pencil, and one for a bit of 
sponge. We cannot but think, that if every child, at two years 
old, was supplied with a slate and pencil, every child would 
teach itself enough of drawing, to lay a good foundation for 
the acquirement of that useful and delightful art, when culti- 
vated at a later period. We have seen very intelligible sketches 
on the slate, made by children of four and five years old ; and 
in every instance, the same young persons have drawn admi- 
rably, by the time they were fourteen or fifteen. 

THE ATTICS. — The attic or upper rooms of a three story 
house are generally appropriated to the domestics. It is well 
that at least one of these rooms should have a fire place, in 
which (where coal is burned) a small cheap grate may be set. 
Upper rooms where wood is burned in an open fire-place, are 
very apt to smoke, from the shortness of the distance to tb« 
top of the chimney. Where there is no fire-place, there should 
be a hole made in the chimney part of the wall, for the admis- 
sion of a stove-pipe; as. a small close stove, either for wood or 
coal, may be found necessary in case of sickness, or if the 
room should chance to be for a while occupied by one of the 
members of the family. In well-finished attics, there are fre- 
quently shutters to the windows. If there are no shutters, the 
sun-beams may be excluded, by thick blinds of lined wall 
paper, or of stout brown linen, or even of strong domestic 
cotton. 

It is best to have a separate bed for each of the domestics. 
Many a valuable hired woman has left her place, rather than 



326 THE HOUSE book. 

be obliged to sleep in the same bed with another female that 
was disagreeaole to her. Servant-women who have just come 
from Europe, not unfrequently arrive a\ ith contagious diseases, 
produced or fostered by the heat and dirtiness of tlie steerage ; 
and a clean American female is justifiable in objecting to the 
risk of having such a bed-fellow. 

Painted low-post bedsteads are best for the rooms of the 
domestics : who, if they had curtains, might very probably set 
them on fire with their candles. What are called cot-bedsteads 
are objectionable, on account of the difficulty in keeping them 
free from bugs. The sheeting may be of strong unbleached 
linen for summer, and unbleached domestic cotton in the 
winter. One of the quilts called comfortables will give as 
much warmth as three blankets. 

In winter let there be a piece of carpet to lay down by the 
side of each bed. In summer it w^ill not be necessary. 

Each servant's room should be furnished with a washing- 
table, a looking-glass, a table, and several chairs. In good houses 
there are generally closets in the attics. If there are no closets, 
let a few shelves be put up, and also some pegs or large hooks, 
on which they may hang their clothes, with a curtain of thick 
calico or check to screen them from the dust. 

The walls of garret-rooms should always be white-washed ; 
and it is well to have this done twice every summer. While 
we urge the humanity as well as the policy of giving the ser- 
vants of a family no real cause to complain of want of comfort 
in their sleeping-rooms, (or in any thing else,) we also suggest 
"the expediency of the mistress of the house seeing that the 
attics are kept comfortable, by due attention being paid to their 
cleanliness. The domestics should all be instructed to take 
otf the bed-clothes and spread them out on chairs, early in the 
morning, as soon as they are up ; putting the bolsters and 



THE ATTICS, ETC. - 327 

pillows near the window, and raisin^ the sash before they leave 
the room, so as to admit the fresh air. After the chambermaid 
has finished her work below, she should go up and put the 
attics in order, Sweeping and dusting them everyday. Insects 
are frequently conveyed to the chambers of the family upon the 
clothes of servants who come out of dirty beds and dirty garret- 
ooms. Iron bedsteads are now much used in attics.' 

If mouse-holes are found in the attics or in the loft above, 
they should be immediately stopped up, and measures taken to 
destroy the mice ; otherwise these troublesome little animals 
will be very likely to find their way to the lower apartments. 

In summer, the attics should be scrubbed at least once 
a month, and the bedsteads taken down, examined, and 
cleaned. 

A bell from the room of the lady of the house to that of the 
cook is indispensable, that she and the other domestics may 
have notice when to rise in the morning. Many servants, 
however, have the excellent habit (and it is easily acquired) 
of waking of themselves, and rising of their own accord at 
day-light. 



SKYLIGHTS. — The sky-lights which are generally placed 
on the roof to light the upper stair-case, should have very thick * 
glas», each pane fitting exactly ; else they are liable to leak, 
and to be broken by a violent rain or hail-storm. They are 
sometimes made with a hood- or wooden covering, to be shut 
down previous to a storm. Care should be taken that all the 
wood-work of the sky-light (as well as the glass) fits tightly; 
otherwise it will not only leak from rain, but from the melting 
of the snow, when it thaws. As soon as the snow has ceased 
falling, some one should go up and remove it at once (while it 
is still soft) from the skylight, which will otherwise be entireJy 



328 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

darKened ; and, if the snow freezes on it, may probably remain 
obscured for some weeks. 

On handsome houses we frequently see a lantern or Belvidere, 
instead of a common skylight; and they are ^uch better, as 
the glass, standing perpendicularly, is in no more danger from 
rain or snow than any of the other windows. 



ENTRANCE HALL5J, &c.— The entry or hall should be 
kept extremely clean. A neglected entry will give strangers 
an unfavourable impression of the house. If there are two 
doors, one within the other, so as to make a square space or 
vestibule between, it is best to keep the outer or street door 
unlocked, that visiters may at once be enabled to go in and 
shelter themselves from the weather; while the inner door is 
always kept fastened with a dead-latch, if you are apprehensive 
of thieves. The bell being at the front door, the person who 
rings it can go in, and wait in the vestibule till the servant 
comes to admit him. It is well, in the vestibule, to have 
always two chairs or a small settee. The floor (if not of 
marble) is usually covered with oil-cloth ; and a foot-mat is of 
course indispensable. 

If the inner door is kept always fastened, each of the princi 
pal members of the family should furnish themselves w^ith keys 
for the dead-latch, getting them made by a locksmith after the 
pattern of the first key. ** 

In the passage, beyond the inner door, let the hat-rack and 
umbrella-stand be placed, and near them a row of brass hooks, 
fixed at a proper height for hanging up gentlemen's cloaks and 
surtouts. The bes* hat-racks are those with a mirror. 

There should be a settee or a few chairs in the entry, that 
persons waiting there may liave an opportunity of sitting down. 
In the recess near the stair-case have a table or shelf to hold 



EN I RAX CE HALLS, ETC. 320 

the small chamber lamps in the evening, with a larger lamp 
always burning, by which to light them when wanted. If the 
drawing-rooms are up stairs, two hanging lamps will be neces- 
sary, one to light the passage below, and one for that above. 

As there are no pictures or curtains to be set off by the con 
trast of a sober-coloured wall, the walls of the entry and staii 
case may be painted pale blue, or light green, lemon yellow, 
blossom colour, or cream colour. If the hall is wide and lignt, 
it is usual to hang it with large maps on rollers; for instance, 
one of the United States, one of the state you inhabit, one of 
Europe, and one of the world. 

Some persons, in summer, shade the fan-lights of the front 
and back door with green paper cut to fit exactly, and fastened 
-up with small headless tacks. These paper-screens are in- 
tended to prevent the sun-beams from fading the carpet ; but 
they darken the passage extremely. 

The servant that attends the front door should have general 
orders to go immediately, as soon as the bell rings. And on 
opening the door, he is not to hide behind it when giving an 
answer, as if ashamed to be seen. If decently dressed, (as he 
always ought to be,) there is no cause for shame. He should give 
an answer at once, without stopping first to stare at the stranger; 
and without hesitating, as if coining a falsehood. The highly 
reprehensible custom of ladies, when they did not wish to see 
visiters, ordering their domestics to deny their being at home, 
is now very properly exploded in good society. The servant 
is directed to say that the ladies are engaged, or that " they do 
not see company to-day." When this is understood, the domes- 
tic that opens the door, is not to pause and say that " he will 
go and see," but he will reply promptly as he has been told. 

When the family are at home, and intend to receive their 
friends, the servant in showing a lady or gentleman to the 

28* 



330 TH'E HOUSE COOK. 

drawing-room, should inquire the name of the visitor, and an 
nounco it as he holds open the door, that those within may know 
who is coming. If none of the family are in the drawing- 
room, he is, on showing in the stranger, (a lady, for instance,) 
to place a chair near the fire, if it is winter : or to invite her to 
take a seat on the sofa, if it is summer. If the room is dark, 
he is to open the shutters, or turn the hlinds, so as to give 
sumcient light. He is then to inquire the name of the lady, 
that he may inform those of the family, which of their friends 
they may expect to see. When the lady is about to depart, he 
will be at hand immediately after hearing the parlour-bell, to 
go forward and open the street-door for her. 

There should be mats at each of the passage doors, and at 
each pailour door. For the latter, mats of shaggy wool, like 
a sheep-skin, are much in use. The mats should all be taken 
into the yard, and shaken and beaten every day, at the time the 
entry is swept. 

THE FRONT DOOR.— It would be well if all door-steps 
were furnished with hand-rails. Without them, there is much 
danger of slipping down in icy weather, or at night, or for per- 
sons that are lame. In Philadelphia, it is the custom (and a 
very good one) to wash them every day, (using warm watei 
in winter,) and also the pavement before the house. A foot- 
scraper is an indispensable appendage to a front door. As soon 
as a snow has done falling, and before it has time to freeze, it 
should be immediately cleared entirely aw^a}^ from the door- 
steps, and pavement. It is then an easy task, but a very difli 
cult one after it has frozen. To say nothing in regard to the 
danger of persons slipping down on the ice, and being severely 
injured, (of which there are instances every winter,) an icy 
door-step or pavement has a wretched and slovenly appearance, 



THE FRONT DOOR. 331 

gives a mean aspect to the house, and is altogether inexcusable; 
tor if you have not a man-servant to clear it away with a spade 
or large shovel, you can get it done for a trifle by the poor men 
who go about for that purpose after a snow, and to whom such 
a job is frequently an act of charity. We have seen stout 
little boys, the sons of gentlemen, find great pleasure and good 
exercise in shovelling the snow from the door in a bright win- 
ter morning. Also, let the pavement and steps at the back- 
door be cleared from the snow as soon as possible. If, how- 
ever, the snow has been allowed to freeze on these places, keep 
the ice always well covered with ashes, or sprinkle salt on it. 
Every winter there are limbs broken, and lives endangered, 
from falling on icy pavements or frozen door-steps; accidents 
that would never happen, if every citizen did his duty in keep- 
ing his own premises free from ice, and if the public bodies 
were equally vigilant in having the snow immediately cleared 
away from the vicinity of the public buildings. 

If obliged to walk on snow or ice : carpet moccasins are ex- 
cellent preventives from slipping; and so are broad-soled India- 
rubber shoes, of the thick old fashioned sort. 

Just within the front door, have always a large mat to wipe 
the mud or dust from the feet. We have seen, in addition, a 
large fool-brush, half a yard square, of short, stiff bristles, set 
in a heavy wooden frame, and placed near the mat. 

If you live in a handsome house, and have lamps at the 
front door-step, it will not only add much to the convenience 
of those who go in and out, but also be a great security against 
thieves, to have these lamps lighted every night, and not merely 
w^hen you expect company. No robber will attempt to force 
his way into a house, if the front is well lighted all the time; 
and the additional expense of oil will not be felt by any family 



332 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

that can afford to reside in an elegant mansion, containing 
valuable plate and costly articles of furniture. 

There is great convenience in having in a front door a slit 
for the reception of newspapers, letters, &c. This aperture 
should be perpendicular, (not horizontal, according to the old 
custom,) and its best place is just above the handle of the lock. 
Over it should be placed a movable brass or silver-plated cover, 
to be slipped to one side when a paper is thrown in, and 
replaced. This cover, if handsome, *will make the slit rather 
ornamental than otherwise. 

No private dwelling should be without a name-plate on the 
door. The want of one frequently causes much inconvenience 
to strangers, particularly in a row of houses that are all alike, 
and in streets whose similarity is so great as in Phila- 
delphia. 

BELLS. — No room should be without a bell ; as there is 
no part of the house in which a bell may not be useful, particu- 
larly in case of accidents, or of persons being taken suddenly 
ill in the night. It would be a good custom, in large private 
houses, to have the rooms and bells numbered, as in hotels. 
Much trouble may be spared to the domestics by establishing 
different modes of ringing the bell, so as to apprize them of 
what is wanted before they come up stairs. For instance, let 
it be understood that if a servant is to come for the purpose of 
receiving a message or an order, the bell is to be pulled o/jce .• 
and if fuel is wanted, let it be pulled twice.- if lights, three times : 
if water, four times. In some families the manner of rinofino- 
the bell is so regulated, as to denote, not the thing, but the 
servant that is wanted : as, one ring for the waiting-marn ; two 
for the boy ; three for the chambermaid, &c. 
. The handle of the front-door bell shmild be placed low, so 



DOOR-LOCKS, ETC. 33.'J 

as not to be out of the reach of a child. The bell itself shoulJ 
be large, and loud enough to be heard in any part of the house. 
In langing it, let the wire go along as straight as possible; for 
bends and turns make it hard to pull effectively, and frequently 
cause it to be broken in the effort. We have known houses 
into which itwas very difficult to obtain admittance, on acccuRt 
of the inefficiency of the door-bell, or the almost impossibility 
of pulling it so as to sound ; the visiters being not unfrequently 
obliged to give up the attempt and go away, in despair of being 
heard by any one. 

Brass knockers are now considered old-fashioned ; but they 
have at least the advantage of being easily sounded, and never 
getting out of order. 



DOOR-LOCKS. — There is no economy in finishing a house 
with door-locks of inferior price and quality ; as they are so 
often out of order, that the frequent expense of having them 
repaired soon becomes greater than would have been the addi- 
tional cost of having good ones at first. Brass locks and keys 
are the best, and therefore the most economical ; a rule that is 
good in nearly every thing. It is well to have all the locks 
and keys engraved in corresponding figures, that the exact key 
of every lock may be known at once; key No. 3 belonging, of 
course, to lock No. 3. If the number is marked on a little round 
piece of brass attached to the key, do not have the edge of the 
brass ornamented by jagging, as is sometimes done; for the 
points or scollops are very inconvenient, and hurt the hand 
whenever the key is applied to the lock. 

When the hinges of a door begin to creak, rub them well 
with lamp-oil or with soft soap. 

The practice of putting heavy weignts to a door, for the pui 
pose of causing it to shut immediately of itself, is not a good 



334 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

one ; for (to say nothing of the loud and disagreeable noise it 
occasions) very bad accidents have happened to children, from 
being caught in a door while closing so rapidly that they could 
not escape from h in time. We have known a tea-waiter with 
all its china demolished, by the person that carried it being 
unable to pass wdth sufficient quickness when the door closed, 
with a weight. 



CHIMNEYS. — Smoky chimneys are intolerable antidotes 
to comfort, and therefore care should be taken to construct them 
otherwise. Perpendicular flues, that go up quite straight, are 
much more apt to smoke than those that are zigzag, or have 
bends or elbows in them. The longer the chimney, the better 
the draught ; for which reason fire-places in the upper story 
will be frequently incommoded with smoke, while those farther 
dow^n are entirely free from it. In two-story structures, .the 
chimneys should be very tall, lest their draught be overpowered 
by adjoining buildings that are hig^^er. This is sometimes the 
case, even in a three-story house, when one of four stories is 
erected beside it. The remedy then is to raise the chimneys 
of the lowest house, or to put pots or cowls on them. Two 
separate flues in the same chimney should have no communi- 
cation with each other before they reach the top ; ottierwise 
one of them will be sure to smoke. It is best to narrow the 
aperture at the top of the chimney, that there may be less space 
for the wind or for damp air to rush down the flue. Also, 
chimneys (those of kitchens jrarticularly) sometimes smoke 
from having the aperture large in the extreme at the bottom. 
The smoking of a large fire-place may be sometimes partially 
remedied by a piece of sheet iron about the depth of eight, ten, 
or twelve inches, nailed along the whole front of the chimney- 
piece. 



C " ' V N E Y s. 335 

FLOORS. — In building- or new-modelling a house let the 
floors be made of wood that is very well seasoned, otherwise 
they will shrink from the walls : leaving large cracks round 
the surbase to become places of egress and insfrzas for cock- 
roaches and mice. It is well to have all the lioors perfectly 
level on each story — it being inconvenient for children, and for 
servants carrying things, to have a step or two to go up or 
down in passing from room to room. 

When they are not to be carpeted, it is an excellent plan to 
have the floors painted ; as it preserves the wood, fills up the 
cracks, and saves much hard-scrubbing. White or lead colour 
is best. The strip of floor at the two sides of the entry and 
stair-carpet looks very well painted white ; and instead of 
scrubbing, it need only be washed with a wet cloth. 



DAMP WALLS. — If a new house is finished in the autumn 
it is not prudent for the family to remove into it till late in the 
spring, particularly if it is built of stone or brick. The walls 
require a long time to dry thoroughly, and the general humi- 
dity diffused through the rooms by the dampness of new plas- 
tering has been found in many instances sadly deleterious to 
the health of some of the occupants, either by producing almost 
immediate rheumatism, or laying the foundation of pulmonary 
complaints that ended fatally. It will be well to have the 
grates and stoves set early in the autumn, and a fire made up 
once a day in each of them throughout the winter : some per- 
son going daily to the empty house to attend to them. 

The expense of these fires will be amply compensated by- 
the confidence of security from damp, with which you may 
take possession of your new house, when the spring has set in 



liS5 



HOUSE-CLEANING, &c. 



PREPARATIONS. 

In some families there is no g-eneral house-cleaning at stated 
periods, but the rooms are scrubbed, white-washed, &c., one 
at a time, as may be most convenient. But the usual custom 
IT America is to have the house completely cleaned from top 
bottom twice a year ; late in the spring and early in the 
autumn. As the temperature of the season varies in different 
oarts of the Union, it is a good rule not to commence house- 
jleaning in the spring till the trees are all in full leaf; but to 
oegin it in autumn as soon as the leaves become tinged with 
brown ; having it entirely over before the 20th of September ; 
at which time the equinoctial rains may be expected, fire will 
be necessary, and the house and furniture ought no longer to 
appear in the guise of summer. But at no season should 
house-cleaning be commenced when there is a prospect of bad 
weather. And the whole business may be deferred or antici- 
pated a week or more, if there is a prospect of the master of 
the family having business to take him from home at the period 
so uncomfortable to all gentlemen. We would advise him, 
however, before he goes, to put his library-table in order him- 
self, and to lock up (taking the key away with him) all his 
papers, &c. 

Besides the assistance of your own domestics, you will fmd 
it necessary to employ at least three other persons ; a white- 
washer, a scrubber, and a man to take charge of the carp • 



HOUSE-CLEANING. 337 

Vt/u should bespeak their services a week or two beforehand, 
as at the usual house-cleaning seasons they are much in demand, 
and you may be disappointed in obtaining them. It may be 
well to make a stipulation with them that they are not to under- 
take the white-washing or cleaning of another house at the 
same time with yours ; a practice that is very common with 
them, rather than lose a job. The consequence is, that after 
doing a day's work (or perhaps only a morning's work) at your 
house, they will go off to another and work there aw^hile;. you, 
in the mean time, seeing nothing of them all the afternoon, or 
perhaps during the whole of the next day, to your great disap 
pointment and mconvenience. 

The cook is never required to assist in house-cleaning ; as 
at that time she will have enough to do in preparing food for 
an additional number of persons, and in clearing things away 
after them. They should all have an early and substantial 
breakfast, and a luncheon between breakfast and dinner ; they 
will work the better for it. And give them their tea before 
they go home in the evening. 

The first thing is to remove most of the furniture from the 
rooms ; the next is to take up the carpets. This will be done 
by the man you have engaged to attend to them, and by the 
assistants of his own that he will bring with him. In Phila- 
delphia it is easy to procure a coloured man who, for about five 
dollars, will undertake all the carpets of a large house. He 
will bring a cart, into which he will put them all, after he has 
taken them from the floors and folded them loosely ; and he 
jfiU be provided with carpet-sticks, brooms, and whatever ia 
necessary, including men to help him. Having taken the 
carpets to some one of the vacant lots in the skirts of the city, 
he will make them perfectly clean, by shaking and beating 

them first, and then laying them on the grass and sweepmg 

29 



338 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

them. He will then fold them neatly, and bring them home 
.n his cart, ready to be put away, if they are not to be in use 
during the summer. It is well to give him, before he goes out 
with the carpets, a quantity of tobacco to lay among the folds, 
or a quarter of a dollar to buy some for the purpose. 

As soon as the carpets are gone, sprinkle the floors 
well, and sweep them twice over ; as the first sweeping will 
only take off what is called the rough dirt. The looking-glasses, 
pictures, &c., should be taken down, dusted clean, and then 
laid upon their faces on the beds, or on large tables in the 
centre of the drawing-rooms, covering them with a sheet or 
blanket. The lamps, branches, vases, and all the ornamental 
articles belonging to the mantel-piece, centre-table, and pier- 
tables, had best be collected all into one room, and cleaned 
while there by some careful person. 



WHITE- WASHING.— The white-washing and scrubbing 
should always be commenced in the upper story, descending 
by degrees ; the stair-case being done last. In a new house, 
no wall should on any account be white-washed or painted till 
after the plastering has been dry at least a year. 

To make white-wash, put lumps of quick-lime into a bucket 
of cold water, and stir it about till it is all dissolved and mixed. 
It should be about as thick as cream. A pint of common white 
varnish, (which can be procured at a cabinet-maker's for a 
trifle,) mixed in a bucket of white-wash, will make it stick like 
paint. Instead of water to mix the lime with, skim milk 
(which must be perfectly sweet) will make the white-wash 
very white and smooth, and prevent it rubbing off easily. 
White-wash is put on with a very long-handled brush, made 
for the purpose ; and it should be spread thinly, smoothly, and 
evenly. When it is quite, dry, it must be gone over with a 



HOrSE-CLEANlNC." 339 

secona coat ; and if the wall has previously been very dirty, 
or coloured with yellow ochre, a third coat of white-wash may 
be necessary. For cei^ngs, instead of the common white-wash, 
it is best to give them a coat of what is called Paris white, (to 
be obtained at the paint-stores,) mixed with water. 

All the closets should be cleared out, and their walls white- 
vashed, and the paint of the shelves and doors cleaned. 



CLEANING PAINT OR WAINSCOTTING.—Have 

;eady two buckets of water, some hard soap, a flannel, a soft 
linen cloth, and some old, soft, linen towels. Paint will come 
off if cleaned with soft soap, pearl-ash, sand, or a scrubbing-- 
brush. In one bucket, rub the soap in the water till it makes 
a light suds, dip in the flannel, and with it rub the paint well. 
Then, as you go along, rinse off the soap with the soft cloth 
dipped in the other bucket of water, and dry, as you proceed, 
with the old towels ; hanging them to dry in the window as 
they become wet. In this manner clean the doors, (on both 
sides,) the window-frames, shutters, and whatever painted 
wood-work or wainscotting may be about the room ; using the 
movable steps, when necessary. 

If you find an ink-stain on the paint, wipe it with the wet 
corner of a cloth dipped in oxalic acid, (either in powder or 
dissolved.) This will remove the ink. Then, in a few minutes, 
wash off the oxalic acid with an old towel and clean water. 
If the paint is white, no trace of either the ink or the acid will 
be left. If it is coloured paint, rub the place with some harts- 
horn and water, and let it dry. The same application will take 
ink out of a floor, or remove its stain from a mahogany 
table, or from a carpet; the hartshorn and water restormg 
the colour that has been faded by the oxalic acid in expelling 
the ink. 



340 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

It is best to clean the paint directly after the white-washings, 
and before the windows are washed. 



WINDOW WASHING.— Having taken down the curtaina 
or blinds, wash the outside of the windows, raising the sashes, 
and throwing against them cold water from a tin mug; looking 
out first, to see that no person is passing below. For the inside, 
take a sponge dipped in luke-warm water, and rub each pane 
of glass till quite clean ; finishing with a soft linen cloth. For 
the best windows, after washing the glass with luke-warm 
water, (as above,) rub every pane with a buckskin dipped in 
finely-powdered whiting, or prepared chalk ; and then wipe it 
off with a soft linen, and finish with a silk handkerchief. This 
will make good glass look beautifully. To reach the top in 
cleaning the inside of windows, you must stand on the movable 
steps. If there are Venetian shutters, brush or wipe them well 
between all the slats. If there are Venetian blinds, see that 
they are in good order before they are put up for the summer ; 
and, if necessary, have them re-painted, and the cords re- 
newed. 

Many families are provided with platforms or stages,, like 
those used by house-painters, to be fixed outside of the win 
dows when cleaning. 



CLEANING CHAIRS.— Painted chairs should never be 
scrubbed, as it takes off the paint. It is sufficient to wipe them 
well with a flannel dipped in luke-warm water, and afterward* 
with a dry cloth. If there is gilding on the chairs, do not wet 
them at all, but wipe them with a dry soft cloth. Chairs of 
"burled maple may be washed with a flannel and luke-w arm 
soap-suds, then rinsed with a cloth dipped in cold water, and 
then finished with a dry cloth. 



HOUSE-CLEANING. 341 

Directions for cleaning other articles of furniture, will be 
found in preceding parts of this book. 



SCRUBBING FLOORS— After the white-washing, paint- 
cleaning, and window-washing of each room has been com- 
pleted, let the floor be scrubbed ; first seeing that it has been 
well swept. For this purpose, have a small tub or bucket of 
warm water ; an old saucer to hold a piece of brown soap, a 
large, thick tow-linen floor-cloth and a long-handled scrubbing 
brush. Dip the whole of the floor-cloth into the water, and 
with it wet a portion of the floor. Next, rub some soap on the 
bristles of the brush, and scrub hard all over the wet place. 
Then dip your cloth into the water, and with it wash the suds 
off the floor. Wring the cloth, wet it again, and wipe the 
floor with it a second time. Lastly, wash the cloth about in the 
water, wring it as dry as possible, and give the floor a last and 
hard wiping with it. Afterwards go on to the next part of the 
floor, wet it, scrub it, wipe it three times, and proceed in the 
same manner, a piece at a time, till you have gone over the 
whole ; changing the dirty water for clean, whenever you find 
t necessary. For a large room, fresh warm water will be re- 
quired four or five times in the course of the scrubbing. 

When the floor has been scrubbed, leave the sashes raised 
while it IS drying. 

For scouring common floors that are very dirty, have by you 
an old tin pan with some gray sand in it ; and after soaping the 
brush, rub on it some sand also. 

In scrubbing the stairs, commence at the top, and coma 
gradually downwards ; doing one step at a time, and finishing 
each, before you begin the next. Use for the stairs a hand- 
brush, instead of a large one with a long handle. You will 

29* 



84^ THE HOUSE BOOK. 

require clean water at least once for Bvery flight of stairs. Fo 
the kitchen-stairs, you may use sand as well as soap. 

Before the steps of the staircase are scrubbed, the painted 
part of the bannisters should be cleaned. First sweep them 
well with a bannister-brush, getting all the dust thoroughly out 
from between the rails. Then wash them with soap and flannel 
and luke-warm water, rinsed off with plain water, and dried 
with a linen cloth. The mahogany part must be cleaned in 
the same manner as your other mahogany. 



FINISHING THE HOUSE- CLEANING.— A house- 
cleaning generally finishes with the kitchen, collar, kitchen- 
staircase, and yard. The closets in the kitchen should be all 
cleared out, white-washed, and scrubbed. So also should the 
dresser shelves and drawers, the tables, &c. The tin-ware, 
iron-ware, and all the utensils belonging to the kitchen and 
cellar, should have a complete scouring; though, of course, 
they ought to be kept clean at all times. If any entirely use- 
less rubbish has been allowed to accumulate, let it be burnt, 
rather than occupy space to no purpose. 

After the spring house-cleaning, (which, east of New York, 
had best be deferred till June, or till the damp, chilly weather 
seems entirely over for the season,) let the fire-place in one of 
the parlours be so arranged, that a fire can be made up there 
if necessary. 

See that the curtains, carpets, and any articles of furniture 
that may not be wanted during the summer, are put carefully 
away. 

Let all the books be removed from the shelves, well dusted, 
and regularly arranged. 

Previous to the autumn house-cleaning, let all the chimneys 
DC swept; at least, all those in which wood is burned. It will 



HOUSE-CLE ANINO. 343 

not be necessary to put up your winter curtai/is before 
November. 

At each house-cleaning, let all the bedsteads be taken apart, 
examined, and the joints washed with cold soap suds. 

If your house requires painting, papering-, or other repairs, 
have them done just before the cleaning time. Previous to 
replacing the furniture in your rooms, let every thing be mended 
that requires it. 

TO REMOVE THE SMELL OF PAINT.— Take three 
or four broad tubs, (such, for instance, as hold about eight 
gallons,) fill them with cold water, and put into each an ounce 
of vitriolic acid, which you can obtain from a druggist. Place 
these tubs near the wainscot, in a newly painted room. This 
water will absorb and retain the effluvia of the paint. Next 
day, fill the tubs with fresh water, and add to each, another 
ounce of vitriolic acid. Repeat this a third day, and on the 
fourth, the smell of the paint will not be perceptible. 

Raw onions, sliced, and set on plates about a newly painted 
room, are said to take away the smell of paint ; or rather, w^e 
suppose, to change it for their own ; which, certainly, has the 
advantage of not being unwholsome, though to most persons 
far from agreeable. The sliced onions should be every day re- 
placed with fresh ones, till after the paint has entirely dried, 
and its smell is quite gone. The onions that have been stand- 
ing in the atmosphere of the paint, should be thrown into the 
fire, and destroyed at once ; as if eaten, they would be poisonous. 



TO TAKE CARE OF FURNITURE WHEN THE 
HOUSE IS REPAIRING.— It is not always necessary, on 
these occasions, to remove or pack away the furniture, parti- 
cularly if the rooms are large. Ha ving taken up the carpets, 



344 THE HOUSE book. 

and had the floors swept, place the tables, and sofas, and largest 
pieces of furniture in the centre of the room, building or arrang- 
ing upon them and round them, all the other articles, so as to 
occupy as little space as possible, and be perfectly safe from 
injury. Cover the entire stack with old quilts sewed together, 
oi with your worst carpets, put round and over the whole, so as 
to conceal every article; and then secure all, by sewing to- 
gether* as may be most convenient, the edges of the carpeting. 



PREPARING ROOMS FOR SUMMER.^In some fami- 
lies, the carpets are replaced on the floors, after the spring 
house-cleaning, and kept down all summer ; and no change is 
made in th^ furniture, except to put away the curtains. In 
other houses, matting is substituted for carpeting : the sofas, 
ottomans, and chair cushions are covered with chintz cases ; 
and all the gilded articles are screened from the flies, by 
envelopes of muslin, gauze, or tissue paper. Gauze, we con- 
sider the worst sort of covering, as it is very apt to split, its 
texture is so open that it admits the dust, and it only lasts one 
season. Low-priced muslin dyed yellow with turmeric and 
milk, is much better, and may be used for the same purpose for 
two or three summers. Tissue paper is still more impervious 
to dust, and makes a nice and very cheap covering. We have 
seen green tissue paper cut out into large jagged leaves, laid 
closely over each other, so as to cover completely the gilt 
frames of mirrors and pictures, and looking like a thick mass 
of foliage all round. The covering on frames must be secured 
losely with small pins : those over lamps, chandeliers, &c., 
should be tied on with cheap ribbon of the same colour. Of 
course, the things must all be well dusted before the covers 
aie put on. 

Where the flies are not particularly numerous, it is best to 



PREPARING FOR SUMMER. 345 

.leave the ornamental furniture without covering during the 
summer; as, with all the care you can take, dust will get under 
the covers, damp ifJzV/ penetrate, and pins will scratch the gild- 
ing ; so that, on the whole, what is gained by excluding the 
flies is lost by the general dinginess which they will contract 
from dust and dampness lodging all summer beneath the 
covers. 

If the rooms are occupied as usual during the summer, it is 
well to have handsome chintz covers for the damask or cloth 
furniture. But if the family remove into the country, and the 
best apartments in the town-house are little used during their 
absence, the covers may be of stout brown linen. Before they 
are fastened on, if the sofas, cushions, &c., are of cloth, or of 
worsted damask, let some crumbled camphor be introduced 
between; otherwise the moths may attack them under the 
covers. They should also be occasionally examined during - 
the summer, and replenished with fresh camphor. 

To conceal the empty grate, it is frequently covered with a 
summer-blower of handsomely ornamented iron. 

There are various pretty ways of decorating and screening 
the grate with tissue-paper of different colours, ingeniously cut, 
and made to fall like curtains over the whole front. The paper 
is fastened to a round stick, (for instance, a piece of a brush- 
handle, cut exactly to fit,) and laid along the slit or aperture at 
the back of the chimney. The paper for these curtains may 
be of two colours, (blue and yellow, or pink and green,) and 
the long sheets must be folded and cut four double, and then 
opened out. Sometimes a quantity of double cut-paper fringe 
(generally green) is made, and wreathed closely round the bars of 
the grate, so as to leave none of their iron visible ^, the interior of 
the grate being fiUedVith long narrow strips or shavings of 
paper of another colour. These cut papers, if carefully taken 



346 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

down and put away when the season is over, will last two 
summers. 

Where wood is burnt, many persons in summer fill up the 
fire-place with a close chimney-board. This makes the room 
too warm, as is also the case with a summer-blower. In a 
chamber, particularly, the fire-place should on no account be 
stopped up in summer. Among the least objectionable chim- 
ney-boards are those of strong, black, gauze canvas, pasted at 
the edge on an open wooden frame, and ornamented with a 
centre-piece and narrow border of coloured worsted-work, or 
with a large vase of flowers, cut out from wall-paper, and pasted 
on the gauze. This gauze (which is made for similar purposes) 
is of very open texture, and admits a little air from the chimney. 
Still, for an open fire-place in summer, there is nothing better 
than a large handsome jar to stand on the hearth, well filled 
with fresh flowers, relieved against a background of long and 
spreading cedar or pine twigs. 

We have seen evening chimney-boards which were very 
beautiful trarisparent paintings, stretcned on a l^ame made 
exactly to fit the fire-place, and illuminated by a lamp or lamps 
placed behind them on the hearth ; the light, if necessary, being 
elevated to the proper height by setting it on a little bench. 
A fine night-view of a great eruption of Vesuvius, and another 
of Alpine scenery by moonlight, made very elegant transparen 
cies for two chimney-boards. 

There are chimney-boards of radiated silk, set in a mahogany 
or rose-wood frame, with a gilt ornament in the centre. 

For the admission of air into the room, there is no chimney- 
board superior to those in the form of Venetian shutters, open- 
ing in the middle. 



PACKING, ETC. 347 

TO PACK GLASS AND CHINA.— Have ready a stout 
wooden box, planed very smooth inside ; and procure a quantity 
ot clean straw or hay, which had best be wetted with a little 
water, so as 13 make it somewhat damp : this will prevent it 
from slipping about. Put a layer of the straw or hay on the 
bottom of the box, and then place on it some of the largest and 
heaviest articles of the glass or china; filling in between them 
with a sufficiency of straw. Then put another layer of straw, 
and some more of the articles to be packed ; and^ proceed in 
this manner till the box is full ; placing the lightest and smallest 
things uppermost. Finish with a layer of straw at the top, and 
then nail on the lid of the box ; and in marking the address 
add the words, " This side up." If you have no regular mark- 
ing pot and brush, you may put on the letters with a large 
camel's hair pencil, dipped in good ink. The safety of valua- 
ble articles of glass and china will be much secured by wrap- 
ping them, each separately, in soft paper, before you pack them 
with the straw. 

Still, it is generally best to employ an experienced packer 
for this purpose ; as the expense of doing so will be but trifling 
in comparison with the risk of having the things broken. Also, 
a person accustomed to packing can put more articles in the 
same space than one who has had but little practice. 



TO FOLD A DRESS FOR PACKING.— Spread the 
dress, right side out, oil a bed ; and, taking it by the hem, make 
the bottom exactly even all round. Next, double the skirt 
lengthways in half, and then fold it lengthways in four, and 
turn the fourth side over towards the back. After this, turn 
up crossways about one-third of the folded lower part of the 
skirt ; then give the remainder of the skirt a fold backwards, 
terminating at the gathers at the waist. Next, turn the body 



S48 ' THEIIOUSEBOOK. 

backwards, with the front uppermost, and the back resting on 
the folded skirt beneath. Lastly, spread out the sleeves ; givu 
each of them a fold forward at the shoulders, and a fold back- 
ward at the elbows, and lay them across each other evenly on 
the fore-body. 

Fold the pelerine right-side out. First, double it in half, 
oeginning down the middle of the back. Next, give the dou- 
oled pelerine a fold backwards, then a fold forwards, and then 
another fol(^ so as to leave the corners uppermost, 

A belt-ribbon, for packing, should be rolled on a block, and 
fastened with two little pins. 

A lady's travelling dress should be made to fasten at the 
side or in front, pelisse-fashion ; that, during her journey, she 
may be able to dress herself without assistance. 

It may be well to have a camphor-bag sewed to each of her 
night-gowns, that she maybe less liable to attacks from insects 
when sleeping in such beds as are frequently met with in 
travelling. 

TO FOLD A COAT FOR PACKING.— Lay the coat at 
its ful} length upon a table, with the collar towards the left- 
hand; pull out the collar so as to make it lie quite straight; 
tuni up the coat towards the collar, letting the crease be just 
at the elbow ; let the lappel or breast on one side be turned 
smoothly back on the arm and sleeves. Turn the skirt over 
the lappel, so that the end of the skirt will reach to the collar, 
and the crease or folding will be just where the skirts part at 
the termination of the waist. When you have done on one 
side, do the same on the other. Turn the collar towards the 
right-hand, and fold one skirt over the other, observing to let 
ihe fold be in the middle of the collar. 

You should have a yard and a half of brown holland, hemmed. 



PACKING, ETC. 349 

marked, and kept for the purpose of wrapping a coat, waistcoat, 
and pantaloons in, when packed for travelling. 

Boots, when wrapped in paper for packing- up, frequently 
burst through it and soil the clean linen. It is best to have foi 
their bags of ticking or brown linen, made to fit them when 
they are rolled up from the top about halfway down the leg. 

If you do not take a dressing-case, a bag to hold a comb and 
brush is also very useful, either for a lady or gentleman. 



TO FOLD A SHIRT. — Having spread the shirt on a table 
or on a bed, fold over the two sides lengthways, so as to lie 
one over the other upon the bosom. Turn the sleeves back 
halfway from the shoulders, (doubling over the sleeve-gussets 
in half,) so as ta lie straight down on the folded body. Then ' 
take the whole and give it a cross-fold upward, so that the 
lower half of the shirt that is turned over, covers the upper part 
of tlie sleeves and the bosom. 

False collars are folded in half only. False bosom pieces, 
first in half from the back, and then another fold is given, so 
as to leave the full part upwards. 

We advise all gentlemen that wear false collars to wear false 
wristbands also. 



TO PACK A LARGE TRUNK.— Have all the things 
laid out ready, the light things divided from the heavy ones ; 
and keep at hand a quire of soft wrapping paper. Spread a 
clean thick towel over the bottom of the trunk, and place on it 
the hard flat things, such as portfolios, music-books, a writing- 
desk, boxes, books for reading, &c. ; taking care to fit them 
well together, so as to be even at the top ; and filling up the 
crevices wdth small articles that will not be injured by com- 

pressment, each of them, however, wrapped in paper, to preven* 

30 



Sr)0 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

their scraping or defacing the other things. Never use news- 
paper for packing, as the printing ink will not fail to rub off 
and soil whatever it touches. You may stick in a pair of shoes 
here and there, each pair laid together as flat as possible, and 
tied round with their own strings. Some persons have shoe- 
bags made of flannel or cloth, and stitched into compartments, 
each division containing a pair of shoes. Over the layer of 
hard flat things in the bottom of the trunk, spread a towel ; 
and on this lay your flannels, linen, &c., filling up the interstices 
with stockings and gloves. Then cover them with another towel, 
and put in your dresses, the muslin ones uppermost ; filling in the 
corners with pocket handkerchiefs. On the top of your dresses lay 
your pelerines, collars, and caps, (if you have no other. way of 
carrying them,) &c., finishing with a thin towel over the whole. 
No trunk should be packed so full as to strain the hinges. If 
your trunk has a false top, you can fill that with any articles 
that may be rolled up tightly. Shoes should on no account be 
packed without covers, as the colour (particularly, if black) 
will rub off, and disfigure any white things that may be near 
them. Avoid putting any eatable articles in a trunk or box 
that contains things which cannot be washed, as they may be 
much injured by grease or stains. On no consideration, carry ink, 
even though locked up in a writing desk. You can always at 
the place to which you are going, buy yourself six cents worth 
of ink in a small square bottle, which will also serve for an 
inkstand. It is well, however, to take with you a few sheets 
of good writing paper folded in the form of letters, each with 
a wafer stuck on one edge, to be ready, in case you have occa- 
sion to write before you reach your journey's end, or immedi- 
ately after. It is well to have red tapes nailed across the inside 
of the lid of your trunk, for the purpose of slipping letters and 
paners between them. 



PACKING, ETC. 351 

There are travelling trunks with a sort of movable tray fitt 
ing in ntai vLe top. This tray can be lifted in and out, and is 
for ihe purpose of containing pelerines, collars, scarfs, ribbons, 
laces, &c. Sox.10 very large trunks have a partition at one end, 
to hold a bonnet or other millinery. 

It is best, however, to have a proper bonnet-box, either of 
painted wood or ot leather. To keep the bonnet steady, sew 
to it in convenient places under the trimming, pieces of tape, 
the other ends of which should be secured wath tack-nails to 
the floor and sides of tkc box. In the corners, you may lay a 
few caps, &c., as lightly us possible. 

Leather trunks generally have brass plates on which is 
engraved the name of the cwner. It is now very customary 
to have the name painted on both ends of the trunk, and also 
on the bonnet boxes. Besides which, if you are travelling 
wdth several articles of baggao-c, it is w^ell to have them all 
designated by a piece of red tape ci comething of the sort tied 
round the handles of each. A lady, before setting out on a 
journey, should be provided with a card or paper, on which 
she has written a list and description of her trunk, box, carpet- 
bag, &c. Previous to the hour for starting, she should give 
this list to the gentleman under whose escoit she is to travel, 
and it will save him much trouble in finding out and taking 
care of her baggage. 

The best paper for wrapping light articles that are to be 
packed in trunks, is the thin, soft sheets of light blue, buflf, 
gray, and other colours, that are retailed at six cents per quire. 
It is well to keep a supply of it always in the house. 

For heavier articles, (books, &c.,) the nankeen paper will be 
found preferable to any other, as it is both smooth and strong. 

In putting up a paper parcel to go any distance over twenty 
miles, it is better to secure it only with sealing-wax, (putting 



352 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

always a wafer under the seal,) than to tie it round with twine, 
as in the course of transportation, the twine is very apt to rub 
and cut through the paper. 

When putting up a newspaper or any other printed sheet to 
go by mail, always leave the cover open at one end. 



CARPET BAGS. — ^The best carpet-bags are those that are 
made with large gores at the sides, as they hold much more 
than when of two straight pieces only. It is well to have the 
owner's name engraved on the lock. Articles of dress that 
cannot be compressed into a small compass, should not be put 
into a lady's carpet bag, which should hold the flannel, linen, 
stockings, night-clothes, shawl, shoes, &c., that she may be 
likely to want during her journey ; those that she will require 
the first night to be placed at the top, where also she 
should have a bag containing her comb, hair-brusH, &c. For 
want of a bag, these things may be pinned up tightly in a towel ; 
and she may do the same with her shoes if she has no shoe-bag. 



A TRAVELLING RETICULE.— A reticule for travelling, 
may be so made, as to contain many useful articles. Get (for 
instance) three quarters of a yard of the thickest and best dark 
coloured India silk, such as is called senshaw. Divide it into 
two pieces, about a quarter and a half quarter in each, but the 
outer piece a little deeper than the inner. Then lay them to- 
gether so as to be double, and divide them into four compart- 
ments, by making three downward rows of stitching or running: 
when you have sewed up the side edges of the bag, you will 
have four divisions. Leave sufficient at the top of the innei 
Immg for a hem ; and the outside must rise a little beyond the 
inside and be hemmed down so as to form a case, to be drawn 
wHh ribbons, or broad silk braid. Gather the bottom of the 



PACKING, ETC. 353 

bag, and draw it up as close as possible, so as to finish it with 
a tassel, or a bow of ribbon at the gathering place. This bag 
will be found very useful in travelling; as in the different 
divisions, you may carry a comb, hair-brush, tooth-brush, 
Bmelling-bottle, a cake of soap, purse, needle-book, keys, &c., 
so arranged, as not to interfere with each other inconveniently; 
leaving the space in the middle of the bag for your handker- 
chief, which you can then take out without any danger of its 
bringing other things along with it. These large reticules will 
be found less troublesome to carry, and better in every respect, 
than a travellinof hand-basket. 



A BONNET- COVER.— When travelling in dry weather 
on a road that is likely to be dusty, you may effectually pro- 
tect your bonnet from injury, by taking with you a cover for 
it. To make this cover, get a yard of white glazed cambric 
muslin, and cut it into the form of a large straight hood; 
gathering it close at the back of the head upon a small circular 
piece about the size of a half-dollar. Slope it away at the 
sides of the neck, and put a case with a drawing-string of fine 
tape along the edge of the front: the string to tie at the side. 

If you commence your journey by water, you can roll up this 
bonnet-cover, and keep it in your reticule while in the steam- 
boat; putting it over your bonnet, and drawing it round your 
face, just before you get into the vehicle in which you are to 
ride. You will find when you take it off, that it has effectually 
screened your bonnet and its ribbons from the dust and sun. 
It must, of course, be made very large and loose, that it may 
not flatten or discompose the trimming. 

We have seen bonnet-covers of green silk; but, if it chances 
to o-et wet, the green dye will run down and stain the bonnet 
The same thing may happen, if the cover is of coloured muslm. 

30* 



354 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

White is undoubtedly the best for this purpose; and when 
soiled, it can be easily washed. 

After being out in the damp, do not immediately put away 
your bonnet ; but wipe the front and crown with a clean hand- 
kerchief, and put some wadding or tissue paper into the bows,, 
to keep them from losing their shape: taking it out, however, 
as soon as the ribbon is perfectly dry. Also, never put away 
a shawl or cloak while it is in the least damp. Do not always 
fold a shawl in the same creases, lest it wear out along the 
edges of the folds. When you take off a veil, stretch it evenly 
on the bed, and let it remain there an hour or two, in case there 
should be any dampness about it. 

W'henever the atmosphere is cloudy or humid, it is well to 
take the feathers out of your bonnet before you go out, lest they 
lose their curl, or their whiteness. 



PACKING HOUSEHOLD ARTICLES— In packing for 
the removal of a family to a distant place, let all the boxes and 
trunks be numbered, and the numbers put down in a book; let 
some one who overlooks the whole of the packing, set down 
every article, denoting the exact box or trunk in which it i 
placed, and the order in which the things are put in, beginning 
first with those at the bottom. By this means, after arriving 
at the place of destination, you will know, by consulting vour 
book, where to find whatever you want; and .which oi the 
boxes it will be best to open first. Also, in a long sea-voyage, 
if there is occasion to have a trunk brought from the hold to 
get out of it any particular article, your book will tell exactly 
in which of your trunks that article is. For want of such an 
inventory, we have seen, in crossing the Atlantic, three or four 
trunks brought up belonging to one family, opened, and 
searcned, before the right one could be found. 



n55 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES 



KEEPING A COW.~In buying a cow, you will find i* 
cheapest in the end, to get a very excellent one, even at a high 
price. But a good American cow (having the advantage of 
' eing all her life accustomed to our climate) will, with proper 
oare, be found quite as profitable to a family that keeps but one, 
as an imported cow purchased at double or treble the cost. A 
good native cow, if well fed and well lodged, will in the best 
season, give from ten to twelve quarts of milk a day, and many 
give more than twelve. If, with all the care you can take of 
her, she gives less than ten quarts, she is not a good cow, and 
it will be best to sell her and try another. 

Cows sell lowest in the autumn and highest in the spring. 
Always buy a cow that has a calf with her, as the calf will 
reconcile her to her new residence. Keep up the calf in a place 
by itself, letting it out occasionally in fine weather, to play 
about a while in a safe enclosure. Let the cow be turned in to 
the calf three times a day ; early in the morning, at noon, and 
towards evening, just before milking time. If the days are 
very short, instead of putting the cow with the calf in day-time, 
leave her with it all night. The calf will not be fit for killing 
in less than five weeks ; and during that time, to make it fat 
and healthy, it should be allowed to get a great plenty of the 
cow's milk. Give it occasionally a little salt. Forbid the 
children of the family to approach the calf when in presence 
of Its raothei ; as the fear that they may hurt it, will rendei 



356 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

her very ferocious. When it is to be taken finally away, let it 
be removed when the cow is out of sight and hearing ; other- 
wise she will be too much distressed. While grieving for the 
loss of her calf, she will give less milk than usual. 

A cow's stable should be tight and weather-proof, with two 
doors, and one or more windows. The floor should have a very 
little slope down towards the front door. The stable should 
be furnished with a manger and a drinking trough, and have a 
loft above to contain the hay. A large jar of salt should be 
kept always in the stable-loft ; and fix a salt-box in a place 
convenient to the manger, and within the cow's reach. Into 
this box put a handful every day ; as cows are extremely fond 
of salt, and without it they will not thrive. Some persons, 
instead of this, give the cow half a handful of salt every time 
she is milked. This is a good plan, as it pleases her, and 
causes her to let down her milk ; and is an additional induce- 
ment for her to come regularly home in the evening. 

The stable door should be left open all day, (except in severe 
or stormy weather,) that the cow may go in and out as she 
pleases ; and care should be taken always to keep fresh water 
in the stable. At night, soon after milking, put her into the 
stable, and keep her shut up till next morning. At least two 
buckets-full of fresh water should be left inher drinking-trou gU 
every night. In stormy and severe weather, keep her all day 
in the stable, and allow her additional food. 

In summer, give her at milking-time a large basket-full of 
fresh-cut grass, emptying it down before her. This will be thti 
best food she can have ; but for a change, her morning repast 
may be of the refuse of the garden, collected for the purpose ; 
such as beet-tops, carrot-tops, corn-husks, and a few of tlie 
outside leaves of cabbages ; but if cabbages are given in any 
quantity, they will spoil the taste of the milk. So also will 



KEEPING A COW. 357 

every sort of turnips. Cows are extremely fond of pumpkins, 
and they are very good for them : so are apples, potatoes, beets, 
carrots, and parsneps, all of them cut up small ; otherwise the 
cow may choke in swallowing them. Cows will eat no food 
that has any thing animal about it, and nothing that is dirty 'oi 
decayed. If water is brought to them in a greasy pail, they 
will on no account touch it. It is 720^ well to give them parings, 
&c.,from the kitchen; and what is called slop is unwholesome 
for them, besides making their milk taste disagreeably. 

In summer, after being milked in the morning, let your cow 
go all day in a good rich pasture ; but do not allow her to keep 
about the road, as the little she can pick up there will do 
her no good ; not to mention the danger of accidents, and the 
probability of her straying away. 

If she is accustomed to being always fed at milking-time, 
she will come home from her pasture-ground every afternoon 
of her own accord, which is a saving of much trouble. Give 
her another basket-full of cut grass, or some other wholesome 
vegetable food, while she is getting milked in the evening. 

Two tons of hay (not less) are about sufficient for a cow 
through the winter, unless it is a very long one ; with half a 
bushel of bran each day. 

In winter, a cow should be punctually fed three times a day. 
Early in the morning give her eight quarts of wheat bran 01 
shorts, mixed with sufficient water to make it rather liquid ; 
and, besides her allowance of bran, let her have as much hay 
as she wil_ eat. At noon give her hay only, but enough foi 
her to eat till she is satisfied. In the evening, give her again 
eight quarts of bran mixed with water, and as much hay as she 
wants. If she is a good cow, you will be amply remunerated 
for feeding her thus liberally with wholesome food, by the 
quantity and lichness of the milk she will yield in consequence 



358. THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Unless a cow is well-fed, well-sheltered, and kept fat and 
healthy, her milk will be poor and in small quantity, and she 
will be dry nearly half the year, instead of only about three 
weeks. Besides which, eows that are kept in poor condition 
are liable to diseases, and become infested with vermin. It is 
a great error not to feed the cow as well as usual during the 
time she is dry. Her food should then, as always, be good and 
plentiful ; and you will be amply repaid by the quantity of 
milk she will give afterwards. 

The milk-pans should be broad and shallow. If they are 
not kept very clean by scalding and washing, the milk will 
taste disagreeably, or turn sour in them. During the day, the 
empty pans should be exposed to the sun and air ; but about 
an hour before milking-time, they should be filled with cold 
water, to cool and refresh them. The pails or buckets require 
clean scouring every day. If the outside is painted, (a good 
practice,) it will be only necessary to scald and wash the inside 
daily. 

The person that milks should be provided with a small 
wooden stool to sit on ; and with thick .water-proof shoes, as a 
protection against the damp ground at early morning or in wet 
weather. Care must be taken always to milk the cow tho- 
roughly dry ; otherwise the quantity of her milk will decrease, 
and she will at last cease to give any. After she has been 
nearly milked, quit her for a little w^hile ; during which time 
you may carry in and strain the milk. Then go back to her 
with another and smaller vessel, and give her a final milking, 
or stripping, as it is called. These strippings are nearly as 
lich as cream ; and if you make butter, they may be put into 
the cream-crock. 

We have known a cow, fed, sheltered, and managed exactly 
m the above manner, to produce milk enough to make seven 



THE DAIRY, ETC. 359 

pounds a week of the best possible butter, yellov/, rich, and 
sweet. 

If you have no milk-house, get a refrigerator or larg-e ice-box, 
txdusively for the milk, cream, and butter ; putting- nothing else 
mto it. Milk is liable to imbibe a bad taste, and to sour easily, 
if exposed to the vicinity of other articles of food ; therefore 
(unless shut up in a refrigerator) it ought, never to be kept in 
a cellar. We have known milk to acquire an intolerable taste 
from being kept in a cellar in w^hich there was a barrel of salt 
fish ; and the butter made from this milk was uneatable. 

Cows should never be allowed access to any field in which 
there is garlic ; as the strong taste and smell that it communi- 
cates to their milk and butter, and even to the flesh of their 
calves, can by no process be removed. 



THE DAIRY. — A dairy or milk-house should be divided 
into two apartments. The one that contains the milk and 
cream had best be built over a running brooklet, so that in 
summer the pans may sit in the cold water upon broad flat 
stones, placed there for the purpose. The remainder should 
be neatly paved with brick or stone, laid with a slight descent; 
and the floor ought to be washed every day in summer, and 
twice a week in winter. 

The building should have very thick walls, so as to exclude 
the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter. The win- 
dows (they should never front the south, south-east, or south- 
west) ought to be secured with wire netting, having also glazed 
sashes to open with hinges. The aparttnent that contains the 
milk, cream, and butter, should be used for no other purpose, 
and nothing else should be kept there. In the additional room 
let all the other articles be placed that are necessary for dairy 
business, neatly ranged on shelves. Here also keep you; 



360 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

cheese, rennet, &c. Let every utensil be kept perfectly 
clean; otherwise the milk will turn sour, and the butter will 
have a bad ta«?te. The best milk-pans are of brown earthen 
ware ; those of metal being injurious to the milk. Twice a 
week in summer, and once a week in winter, it is well to half 
fill them all with wood-ashes, and then pour on boiling water 
till it reaches the brim. Let them stand in this for several 
hours ; then empty them, and wash them clean with hot water, 
rinsing them with cold, and wiping them dry. Besides your 
pails and milk-pans, you will want tall earthen crocks for the 
cream and butter-milk ; a skimming-dish ; a cream-stick ; a 
strainer, which is a tin basin with a bottom of fine canvas or 
holting-cloth ; a churn ; a short-handled butter-scoop or ladle, 
and a butter-print. It is well also to have a table with a marble 
top, a pair of scales for weighing the butter, and a set of linen 
cloths, in which to wrap each pound separately. 

In summer the cream should not be kept more than two or 
three days ; and in winter the churning ought to be done three 
times in a fortnight ; as, if the cream is kept too long, the butter 
will certainly be bad. The cream-crock should be stirred 
several times a day with the stick. Where there are two or 
three cows, it is best to have a barrel-churn, which is turned 
by a handle. If there is but one cow, a common or dash-churn 
will do very well. We have heard of chums of a new con- 
struction, that will'cause the butter to come in twenty minutes. 
They are made at Westchestei, in Pennsylvania. 

The following is an English receipt for making butter ; and 
we think it may be depended on as a good one. The art of 
butter-rtiaking is nowhere better understood than in England. 

In summer the churn should b» filled with cold spring water, 
and in winterscalded with hot water, preparatory to churning; 
then i^our the cream in without spilling. In warm weathei 



THE DAIRY. 361 

the churning should be performed in a cool place. In cold 
weather, let the churning be done in a warm place ; indeed, it 
IS sometimes necessary to bring the churn near the fire, and to 
pour in a little hot water to hasten the butter, which, however, 
will become white by the process. The butter being come, 
pour off the butter-milk into a clean crock, leaving the butter 
m the churn ; pour in a pail-full of cold water ; wash the butter 
about in it; pour off this water, and put in a fresh pail-full. 
Let the butter stand in the second cold water for ten or fifteen 
minutes. Having scalded a milk-pan, and stood it for half an 
hour or more in a small tub of cold water, lift the butter out of 
the churn, and put it into this milk-pan. Then pour over it 
plenty of fresh water, and wash the butter well about in it. 
Drain the water off as dry as possible, and then proceed to 
work the buttermilk out of the butter. Either do this with your 
hands, (which should first be dipped in warm water,) or with 
one of the short-handled flat butter-ladles made for the purpose. 
Work the butter by squeezing and pressing it by degrees from 
one side of the pan to the other. Then rinse it by pouring on 
cold water. Pour that off; work the butter to the other side 
of the pan ; pour on more cold water to rinse it ; and work the 
butter back again. Repeat this till the rinsing-water ceases to 
look in the least milky; and when the water pours off quite 
colourless, you may be sure that the butter-milk is all worked 
out. If there is any left in, the butter will have streaks of 
white when cut, and will lose its sweetness, and very soon 
taste disagreeably. Having worked out the milk, and weighed 
the lump of butter, the next thing is to put in the salt, which 
should first be rolled quite fine with the rolling-pin. The salt 
must be of the best quality. You may allow about a quarter 
of an ounce of salt to each pound of butter. Lay *ihe lump ol' 
nutter on the marble table, if you have one, (or else in a large 



362 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

shallow dish,) and press it out thin and flat. Then sprinkle it 
with a little salt; fold up the butter, press it flat again, strew 
over it some more salt, fold it up and press it out again, and 
proceed in this manner till all the salt is in; working and 
pressing the butter well, that the salt maybe thoroughly incor- 
porated with it, and all the remaining moisture pressed out; 
pouring off whatever liquid may remain in the pan. Take ofi' 
a piece of the butter at a time, put it on a wooden plate, (which 
should be previously scalded and then dipped in cold wat^r,) 
and beat and work it with the butter-ladle till all the water is 
beaten out. When the water is all out, divide it equally into 
pounds, or half pounds, or pats, (smoothing it nicely,) and then 
print it. If you have no print, you may make it up into long 
thick rolls, from which, when you want the butter for use, you 
cut off round slices. Finish by laying it on the marble table, 
or placing it in pans and setting it in the water of the milk- 
house, or in some other cool place, covering it with linen cloths, 
first scalded and then dipped in cold water. Do not, however, 
place it near an open window, as too much air will injure it. 
In a few hours it will become quite firm. 

When you have done the butter, wash up at once, in hot 
water, all the things that have been used in making it. 



TO PREPARE A RENNET.— The rennet or runnet is 
the stomach of a calf. Its form is that of a bag, and it has the 
property of converting milk into a curd ; being used for that 
purpose after undergoing the following preparation. Having 
carefu.iy emptied it of all its contents, rinse it well with cold 
water ; but if washed long or much, it will lose its strength, 
and its qualityof turning milk will be proportionately impaired. 

After the rinsing, lay it in a shallow pan, and sprinkle it well 
on ooth sides with fine salt. When you have thoroughly salted 



KEEPING POULTRY. 363 

It, cover the pan, and let the rennet lie in the salt four or five 
(lays. Then take it out, and slip into it a long smooth rod or 
stick, which must be bent into the form of a loop or bow, and 
the two ends tied together with twine. The rennet must be 
well stretched upon the stick. Afterwards hang it up in a dry 
room ; and when it is thoroughly dried, keep it in a drawer or 
closet. You can sfet rennets for curing from the butcher. 

A piece of rennet about three inches square (or more, if it is 
not a new one) will be sufficient to turn a quart of milk, which 
must first be made warm. The piece of rennet should be well 
washed in cold water, and then wiped to get all the salt out, 
and then steeped for some hours in a cup with just enough of 
luke-warm water to cover it. This water should then te stirred 
into the warmed milk, covering it and setting it not far from 
the fire. When the milk has beconie a firm curd, and the whey 
looks greenish, remove it to a cold place, as it should be eaten 
quite cold. 

Rennets ready prepared, can be bought for a trifle, at all sea- 
sons, in Philadelphia market. They are much used for curds 
and whey. The smallest rennets are the best. 



TO KEEP FOWLS.— No fowls can possibly thrive well, 
or be profitable to the owners, unless they are plentifully fed, 
and have a comfortable place to roost in at night and for a 
shelter in cold or wet weather. Their room or hen-house may 
be adjoining to the wood-house, or some other out-building. 
It is best to have it facing the east or the south, and it must be 
perfectly weather-tight. It should have a door and window^s, 
and be very well lighted : the windows may either be latticed 
with wood, or netted with iron wire. In the evening, after the 
fowls have gone to roost, let the door be locked ; seeing that 
it is opened very early in the morning, unless in bad weather. 



364 THE HOUSE book. 

The hen-house should be frequently cleaned out, and occasion- 
ally white-washed ; for if kept dirty, the fowls will be infested 
with vermin. If this should happen, catch every fowl, even to 
the smallest chickens, and rub their skins and feathers well 
with lard or dripping- ; then have their house thoroughly cleaned 
and white-washed at once; afterwards fumigating it with burn- 
ing brimstone. Next, throw some sand or fresh earth on the 
floor. 

If fowls are scantily supplied with water, or if they have 
access only to that which is dirty or puddled, they will contract 
a disorder called the pip, which is a thin white scale that 
grows on the tip of the tongue, and prevents their feeding. 
Catch them, pull off the scale with your fore-finger nail, and 
then rub the tongue with salt. When fowls have this or any 
other disease, they look drooping, their eyes appear dull, and 
their combs and gills become pale and flabby. When they are 
sick, feed them with bran that has been mixed to a paste with 
boiling water. 

In wet weather, keep the fowls shut up all day in the hen- 
house; also when it is very cold, taking care that they are 
properly supplied with food and water. They should have in 
their house a little manger or feeding-trough, which ought 
never to be empty. If they have plenty of food always by 
them, they will eat frequently but only a little at a time, and it 
is best for them to do so. When their food is given to them 
scantily and irregularly, they injure themselves by devouring 
it too fast. 

Feed them chiefly with Indian corn, allowing at least three 
quarts a day in winter, and two quarts in summer, to a dozen 
fowls. The corn will be still better for them, if previously ' 
soaked in water. They should have food given to them regu- 
larly three times a day. It is usual to feed young '^•h'cl'ens on 



KEEPING POULTRY. 365 

Indian meal mixed soft with water. Curds are still better foi 
them. When newly hatched, they may have bread soaked 
in milk. By way of variety, you may give your fowls occa- 
sionally, buck-wheat, barley, rice, and oats ; but nothing will 
fatten them so well, and keep them so healthy, as corn. 

If always fed there, they will stay chiefly in their house 
during the winter, and will in consequence be more healthy, 
and in every respect more profitable. They must be well sup- 
plied with plenty of clean water in large shallow pans of tin or 
earthen; and also with brick-dust and gravel to assist their 
digestion. It is well to place in the centre of their large water- 
pan, a small but heavy one of earthen-ware, turned bottom 
upwards, on which the fowls can stand to drink without wet- 
ting their feet : which often in winter makes them sick, or causes 
their toes to freeze so that they lose them. Recollect always 
that dirty water gives them diseases. But a little clean brick- 
dust thrown occasionally into their drinking pans, is good for 
their digestion. 

Their nests should be movable, that whenever the hen has 

done sitting, they may be taken away, and cleaned out before 

they are replaced. For the nest, you may place on the floor 

(not far from the walls, but not against them) old flat baskets ; 

or deep boxes set up on the side; the open or entrance part 

turned /rom the light. Fill them with clean dry straw or hay. 

Place near the boxes lime for the hens to form their egg-shells. 

Old rubbish-lime, or plaster from old walls, is very proper for 

this purpose, if well broken up. If you cannot procure this, mix 

lime and water to a mortar ; let it dry, then break it up and pui 

it into the hen-house. See that the setting hens have plenty of 

food and water every day, at the time they come off their nests. 

If they are not supplied fit once, they will go back to their nests 

without waiting, and suffer much in consequence. 

81* 



366 THE HOUSE BOOK 

Their roosts or perches should be so contrived as noi to be 
exactly over each other, and some should be placed low enough 
for the young fowls to reach without difRculty in flying up to 
them. Let none of the nest-boxes be placed under the roosts. 

The hen-house should frequently be cleaned out, white- 
washed, fumigated with sulphur, or by burning pine or cedar 
boughs ; and then strewed with sand. 

Indian meal and West India molasses, mixed together, and 
combined till it crumbles, is excellent for fattening chickens, 
and making them grow rapidly. When fed with it three times 
a day, they have been known in two months to become as large 
as full-grown fowls. The great Bucks County fowls, (as they 
are called in Pennsylvania,) if fed in this manner, will grow 
to such a size, that when brought on table, they are often mis- 
taken for young turkeys. 

Wormwood and rue, sowed plentifully every spring about the 
neighbourhood of the hen-house, will tend to keep away vermin ; 
and if strewed about the floor in the vicinity of their nests, it will 
keep off weasels and other such animals that come to suck the 
eggs. They may also be kept offby scattering powdered valerian. 
Twelve fine hens, managed in the foregoing manner, well- 
sheltered, kept clean, and plentifully supplied with good food 
and water, have been known to supply two thousand eggs in 
the course of a year, (laying all winter,) and a hundred chickens 
have been raised from them, all fat and ready for killing in the 
autumn. The best hens for laying during the winter are 
pullets hatched the preceding spring. 

Bantam fowls are less injurious to a garden than any others, 
as the feathers about their feet prevent them from scratching 
up the seeds. If your garden fence has the palings sharp- 
pointed at the top, the fowls that are outside will find it difii- 
cult to get over; as after flying up to the top, they will have 



KEEPING POULTRY. 307 

no place to rest iheir feet on, while preparing to take iheir 
flight downward. 

When yooi do not intend the hen to sit, instead of keeping 
one real egg always in the nest, have it furnished with three 
very large ones, shaped out of chalk. 

When a hen hatches in wet weather, the young chickens as 
they come out of the shell, should be brought into the kitchen 
or some other warm room, and kept there till next day or longer, 
in a basket with some cotton or wadding in it ; feeding them 
with curds or with soaked bread. After she has hatched, con- 
tinue to feed the hen exceedingly well, or she will not have 
warmth enough for her chickens when she collects them under 
her; besides that, during the day, she requires great strength to 
enable her to take care of them, and make for them the unusual 
exertions to which she is prompted by nature. The chickens 
of a poor hen die off very fast. 



TURKEYS. — Turkeys are more difficult to raise than any 
other poultry ; as when young, the least exposure to wet is 
destructive to them. A turkey-house should be contrived and 
managed just like a chicken-house. As turkeys are ift much 
esteem for the table, and always bring a good price when raised 
for market, they are well worth the trouble and expense of rear- 
ing carefully. Those hatched in May or late in April, after the 
weather has become settled, always thrive the best; but till 
they are as large as an old partridge, and have their backs well 
covered with feathers, they should be kept closely in their house 

9 

every morning till the dew is quite off the ground ; and in 
damp weather, they should not be allowed to go out at all. 
[f hatched in wet weather, keep them several days in the house. 
The best food for young turkeys, is milk turned with rennet 
into a firm cu^d, made fresh for them every day; and this is 



368 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

also excellent for every sort of poultry, when very young. If 
fed in this manner, and kept warm and dry, you may not lose 
one out of twenty ; and a flock of fine full-grown turkeys is 
valuable when the season comes for eating them. Their food 
may be varied occasionally with soaked bread, or with Indian 
meal mixed with water; and when a little older, you may give 
them the wet Indian meal entirely. 

When they get their head-feathers, they have become hardy 
enough to prowl about, for which they like to have ample space. 
Their food should then be corn or buck-wheat. They will fatten 
very fast on Indian meal, mixed with skim-milk. As a change^ 
boiled carrots and boiled Russian turnips are very good for 
them. Turkeys are great devourers, and, to become fat, will 
require feeding five times a day. They will thrive best if their 
corn is parboiled. 

It is well to rear young turkeys under the hens of the com- 
mon fowl; as they do not ramble like the hen-turkeys, and 
teach the young ones to ramble also. 



GEESE. — Geese can only be kept to advantage where there 
are old fields or commons for them to graze in, as grass is an 
important article of their food. If well kept^ a goose will lay a 
hundred eggs in a year. In France, where great attention is 
paid to the raising of geese, they do not allow the goose to si; 
herself, but they put her eggs under common fowls, giving fom 
or five eggs to each hen. If the goose is permitted to sit, she 
must be plentifully and regularly fed during the process. 
When the young ones are hatched, they should be kept in •<» 
warm dry place for four days or more, (according to the wea 
ther,) and fed with lettuce leaves boiled in milk, or with Indiar, 
meal mixed with milk rather than water. They will then 
begin to graze a little. 



KEEPING POULTRY. 369 

Though geese eat grass, they will not, however, fatten upon 
11. They should be fed with corn early in the morning. They 
will then walk off to their field by themselves, and come home 
of their own accord in the evening ; when they ought to be fed 
again, before they go to rest. Their sleeping-place must always 
be under cover; and in their grazing-field a brook or some 
accessible water is indispensable. 

Geese should not be killed till they are full-grown : what 
are called green geese are flabby and tasteless. To fatten geese 
rapidly for killing, put them for a few weeks into a pen, which 
must be kept well littered with clean straw, and have belong- 
ing to it a feeding trough for their corn or oats, and a drinking 
trough kept well supplied with clean water. Geese will not 
thrive if kept dirty. Vary their food with refuse lettuces and 
cabbages from the garden. 

The latter part of the summer is their moulting season ; and 
if not picked, when their small feathers become loose they will 
drop about the ground and be wasted. If the goose-picking is 
done by a woman, she must have all the geese caught and 
penned up in some convenient place ; and then, putting on a 
large coarsft apron, she must take each goose on her lap, hold- 
ing its legs fast with one hand, while she picks off the loose 
feathers with the other, and lays them in a basket beside her. 

An old goose should be allowed to live as long as possible ; 
for, if killed, it will be too hard and tough to be eaten. 



DUCKS. — ^Though ducks, like pigs, will eat of garbage, 
and of various disgusting things, yet there is no advantage in 
their dc/ng so, but precisely the contrary ; as their flesh becomes 
strong and bad in proportion. Corn, oats, buckwheat, wetted 
-.ndian meal, lettuces, white cabbages, and other refuse of the 
o-arden, are excellent food for them. Parsley, sowed about thH 



370 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

edges of the ponds or streams that they frequent, greatly 
improves their flesh. So does wild celery, which imparts a 
similar flavour to that of the canvas-back, the most delicious 
of ducks. A place for them to retire to at night should be par- 
titioned off or erected not far from the water ; and here they 
should be fed morning and evening. This will always bring 
them home from their rambles. 

If a duck is well lodged and fed, she will lay ten dozen of 
eggs in the course of a year; and duck-eggs are extremely rich, 
and excellent for all purposes. It is usual to set duck-eggs 
under a common hen for hatching. The ducklings, when quite 
young, should be fed on curds or Indian meal mixed with milk, 
and should not be let out early in the morning to eat slugs, 
worms, caterpillars, &c. ; for those things, if eaten profusely, 
will kill them. They should, if possible, be prevented from 
going into water and swimming till they are more than a month 
old. When you are fattenir. g them for killing, keep them from 
eating any garbage or animal food whatever. 



TO KEEP BEES. — In America the common bee-hives are 
made of wood, in the form of a tall, four-sided, bottomless box, 
with a flat cover or roof projecting several inches all round, and 
an open door or entrance-hole near the bottom. The hives must 
be made very tight, and quite impervious to rain. They are set 
in a row on broad high benches ; and to prevent rats, mice, &c., 
from running up, it is well to have the legs of the benches cased 
in tin. The hive-benches should not be placed close to a fence, 
a tree, or even in the immediate vicinity of tall shrubs or 
flowers, that they may be the less accessible to any thing that 
is lik6iy ,o commit depredations on the bees. Ants are their 
mortal, enemies. To keep these away, take some green sticks 
or rods, lay them on the ground, twist them into the form of 



KEEPING BEES. 371 

rin^s, so as to encircle each leg of the hive-bench, at a few 
inches from it. Then cover these rings thickly vi^ith tar. You 
may easily trace these destructive insects to their hills, and 
you may destroy them there, by pouring on boiling water after 
night, when they are all at home. 

Wasps and hornets are also very injurious to bees ; and thei* 
nests should always be destroyed as soon as they begin to 
make them. This can be done, by holding under them a stick 
to the end of which is fixed a lighted rag, that has been greased 
and dipped in brimstone. 

As fowls will eat bees, they should not be allowed access 
to the place where the hives are kept. 

The best situation for hives is to face the south or the south- 
east. From the north they should always be sheltered. As 
bees require a great deal of water, they will not thrive unless 
there is a stream in their vicinity. The grass round their bench 
should be kept free from weeds, and some dwarf or low flowers 
may come within two feet of it; but tall plants will assist de- 
structive insects in getting to the bees. 

The hives must have four sticks across the inside, at equal 
distances, for the bees to work on. The entrance hole may be 
four inches wide, and an inch and a half high. Old hives 
should not be used for new bees ; for an old hive is not so 
wholesome as a new one, and it may probably be infested with 
the embryos of moths and other insects. 

Bees are extremely fond of the blossoms of fruit trees, (of 
the peach, particularly,) and of aromatic herbs ; also of the 
blossoms of beans and of white clover. But the best honey is 
made from the flowers of the buck-wheat. 

After buying or selling a hive of bees, the best time to re 
move it for the purpose of carrying it away, is in the evening 
It should be raised a little from the bench several hours before. 



372 T H E H U S E BOOK. 

by placing wedges under it, so that all the btes may have time 
to get up into the inside ; otherwise they will be very trouble- 
some. Then slip a board under the hive, of the size and snape, 
to form a bottom, and plaster it on well with mortar. PricK a 
card all over with a fork, so as to make it full of air-holes, and 
tack it over the entrance hole. Thus secured, the hive with 
the bees in it, may be conveyed to their new residence, which 
should be near enough for them to arrive that night; otherwise 
the combs will be injured. 

When the bees become too numerous for one hive, they issue 
out in a swarm, with a queen of their own, and must be enticed 
into a new hive, or they will fly away and be lost to their owner 
You may know when they are going to swarm, by seeing them 
clustering in masses on the tench or outside of the hive, and 
by the peculiar sound of their humming. A new hive must 
be in readiness to receive them, and it should be rubbed about 
the lower part with cream and sugar, or with thyme, mint, 
marjoram, or other sweet herbs. A large clean cloth (a sheet, 
for instance) should be prepared to receive them, if necessary. 
Bees, when they are going to swarm, never rise to begin their 
flight, except on a fine, clear day, and they all start together; 
generally between nine in the morning, and five in the afternoon. 

In superintending the swarming of bees, cover yourself well 
with thick clothing, tie on a large hat, and put stout gloves on 
your hands, so as to guard against the danger of feeling their 
stings, should they become irritated. When the swarm has 
risen and commenced its flight, it is usual to have a loud noise 
made by tinkling on frying-pans, pot-lids, kettles, &c., for the 
purpose of driving them to the nearest settling-place ; otherwise, 
they may all go oflf to some distant location from whence they 
cannot be recovered. When well tinkled, they will generally 
settle somewhere close at hand ; most probably, on the bouglj 



KEEPING BEES. 873 

of a tree. If the swarm rests on any thing' that can be brought 
to the ground, spread under it your large Tinen cloth, and on the 
cloth lay two sticks two feet asunder. Let some one climb 
up quietly, cut off that part of the branch of the tree, (if the 
swarm has settled on it,) and lay it gently on the two sticks 
placed on the cloth. This may be done without disturbing the 
bees that are clinging to the bough. Then quickly and dex- 
terously clap down the hive over the swarm ; fold the re- 
mainder of the cloth over the whole, and thus carry it cautiously 
to its station. 

Some hives will swarm twice; the second swarming may be 
expected within three or four days, but never later than ten 
days, after the first. 

If a hive divides into two swarms, it is a sign that each 
swarm has a queen. When a cluster of bees are seen together, 
forming a knot about the size of a plum, the queen will gene- 
rally be found there. She is larger than the other bees. 
Separate them, and with a wine-glass turned downward, you 
may secure the queen. Put her with a score or two of her 
subjects into a box perforated with holes large enough to admit 
air and. yet not to allow the bees to escape. Feed them with 
honey ; and keep the queen in reserve, in case of the death of 
a sovereign in one of the hives. When all the bees of a hive 
cease to work, it is an evidence that their queen is dead ; and 
the spare queen should then be taken late in the evening, (wet- 
ting her wings to prevent her escape,) and introduced into the 
hive ; when her new subjects will receive her gladly, and re- 
sume their work. 

You may take the honey without destroying the bees, (as is 
the usual practice,) Isy the following easy method. Dig a 
snaall pit near the hive bench. Ana have ready a new empty- 
hive with four sticks laid across the inside, w^hich must be well 

32 



374 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

^ubbed with aromatic herbs. In the evening-, after the bees aie 
all quietly lodged, approach the hive and turn it gently over 
into the pit, with its head downwards. Then place against its 
mouth the mouth of the new hive, adjusting them so nicely 
that no crack or aperture remains between. While one person 
nolds the two hives closely together in the above manner, 
another should take a small stick, and beat gently round the 
sides of the lower hive for a quarter of an hour or more ; during 
which time, the bees will all leave their cells in the lower hive, 
and ascend into the upper one. Then gently lift the new hive 
with all its little tenants adhering to the interior, and stand it 
on the bench from whence the other was taken. This should 
be done about the third week in June, that the bees may have 
time to make a new stock of honey during the summer. 

Bees can be fed in the winter with refuse honey, after the 
best has been drained off; and with brown sugar simmered 
with fresh beer to the consistence of molasses ; allowing a pint 
of beer to a pound of sugar. This should be introduced into 
the hive, by means of small wooden troughs put in at the door. 

Nevertheless, a large quantity of good honey in combs will 
also be necessary to keep them alive during the winter; and 
their hives should be covered with straw and kept w^arm. 

To strain honey. — Take a knife and cut the combs across 
into small squares ; lay them in a sieve, and place the sieve 
over a broad deep pan, and set it in the hot sun or before the 
fire. When the pieces of honey-comb are well drained on one 
side, turn them on the other. After the honey has settled, a 
scum will be found on the top, which must be taken oft. Then 
transfer the honey to a stone jar, and cover it closely. Put the 
combs into a thin linen bag, set a vessel under it, and by 
squeezing and pressing, you may get out some more honey ; 
wnich, however, will be inferior to that which has run freely 



TAKING CARE OF GOLD-FISH. 375 

of itself. It will assist in feeding bees ; or it may be made 
into a paste with lard or melted spermaceti, and will be good 
for chapped hands. 

To obtain the wax, take the combs, after all the honey has 
been extracted from them, and having tied them up in a bag, 
(placing some pebble stones at the bottom to keep them down,) 
put the bag into a kettle of cold water, and hang it over the 
fire. As the water heats, the wax melts and rises to the top, 
while the impurities remain below. Afterwards, put the melted 
wax into small saucers, and set it in the air to cool. It will 
Come out in cakes ; first wrapping round each saucer a cloth 
dipped in hot water, to loosen the wax. 



TO TAKE CARE OF GOLD-FISH— It is a mistake to 
suppose that gold-fish kept in glass globes require feeding. 
They have the singular property of subsisting on the invisible 
animalculae of the water; and though they will eat bread or 
vermicelli if given to them, they are much better w^ithout it. 
It is necessary, however, to change the water every day; as 
clean fresh water is indispensable to their existence, when 
confined in a small space. To do this, empty the globe into a 
large basin, pouring the fish along with the water. Wash the 
globe very clean inside and out, making it look perfectly bright 
and clear ; and fill it with fresh water. Then catch the gold- 
fish in your hand,- (doing it very carefully, to avoid hurting 
them,) and instantly transfer them to the globe of clean water. 
Gold-fish, in winter, should always be kept in a warm room. 
It is not well to have more than two fish in one globe. 



TO MAKE BREAD SEALS— On receiving letters with 
handsome seals, do not break the wax, but cut round it with 
a pair of scissors. When you have collected a number from 



376 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

which you wish to make bread seals, proceed as follows. Get 
Si fresh loaf of baker's bread baked that day, and pare off all 
the crust. Mix in a deep dish, a sufficient quantity of the best 
Indian ink, by rubbing it with water, so as to form a liquid 
about the consistence and colour of good writing ink. Then 
lay aside the cake of Indian ink, and take the crumb or soft 
part of the bread, a little at a time, and with your hands work 
it with the black liquid into a stiff dough, working and. knead- 
ing it well, till thoroughly incorporated. Then divide the 
black dough into bits about the size of a hickory nut, and form 
them into the shape of a watch seal. Have ready the wax 
seals whose impression you wish to take, and press hard upon 
each of them the large end of one of the bread seals, till the 
device is deeply stamped. If you do not get a good impression 
at first, smooth over the surface of the bread seal and press it 
again upon the wax. When they are all done, and properly 
stamped, place them on a plate, so as not to touch each other, 
and set them on a dark cool closet-shelf to dry gradually. If 
dried in the sun or by the fire, they will crack, and be useless. 
When perfectly dry, they will be as hard as stones, and may 
be used like any other seal ; giving a very good impression to 
the wax, though not quite so strong as that of a cornelian or 
metal signet. 

After making bread seals, you will find it necessary to use 
lemon juice or salt of lemon before you can remove the black 
stain from your hands. 

By means of a bread seal, you may, in answering the letter 
of a friend, return on the wax the same device that you have 
received. 



TO MAKE WRITING INK.— Procure at a druggist's 
four ounces of blue Aleppo nut-galls, as perfect and free from 



MAKING WRITING INK. 377 

blemishes as possible ; those that are smallest and bluest are 
the best. Also half an ounce of copperas ; and half an ounce 
of fine clean gum arable. Let each of these articles be 
coarsely bruised or pounded, but do not mix them. Put each 
mto a separate queensware or earthen vessel. Boil a quart 
of clear soft water, (not more ;) and when it is scalding hot, 
pour a pint and a half of it on the bruised nut-galls. Divide 
equally the remaining half pint, and pour one jill of it on the 
copperas, and the other jill on the gum arable. Set them all 
away on a closet shelf, where they will be free from dust ; or 
cover them closely. Let them stand a week to infuse, stirring 
them frequently : particularly the gum arable, which, otherwise, 
will get into a clod. At the end of a week, pour the copperas 
and the gum arable into the larger vessel that contains the nut- 
galls, and stir the whole together. Let it stand open for two 
or three days. Then have ready a clean black botfle that will 
hold a quart, and drop into it a dozen cloves slightly bruised. 
Put a funnel into the mouth of it, set a strainer in the funnel, 
and pour the mixture through them into the bottle. Place the 
bottle (uncorked) for three or four days in the open air, which 
will blacken tlie ink. Then cork it, and the ink will be ready 
for use. The cloves are to preserve it from moulding. This 
ink will be found excellent ; improving in blackness after it 
has remained a while on the paper. 

You may make a quart of ink in this manner, at one fourth 
the cost of the same quantity obtained at a stationer's. 

Before you replenish an ink-stand, empty out the dregs, fill 
it with warm water, and let it soak a while. Then wash out 
all the sediment that sticks about the sides and bottom, and 
rinse ii quite clean ; otherwise the remains of the old ink will 
thicken and injure the new. 

32* 



378 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

RED INK. — Take four ounces of the raspings of Brazil 
wood ; half an ounce of powdered alum ; and a pint of the 
best vinegar. Put them into a pipkin, and boil them gently 
one hour. Let the ink stand for two or three days, to deepen 
the colour ; then strain it and bottle it for use. 



DURABLE INK. — Put into a two-ounce phial four inches 
of lunar caustic, first peeling oflf what paper may be sticking 
about it. Then fill it up with clear, soft, water and cork it. 
Let it stand three days in the sun, or near a fire, otherwise it 
will not blacken. This is the marking ink. 

For the sizing liquid, put into a four-ounce phial, an ounce 
of powdered gum-arabic mixed with a quarter of an Qunce 
of super-carbonate of soda, and fill up with hot water. Mix 
them well, and let it stand for three days, stirring it fre- 
quently. 

Too much soda in the sizing will cause the marking ink 
to run. 

It is best to mark linen on a dry day. Dip a camel's-hair 
brush or the feather of a quill into the sizing liquid, and wet 
with it a place a little larger than is sufficient to contain the 
name you wish to mark. Then dry it in the sun or by the fire. 
Next day smooth the place "with a warm iron; and dipping a 
clean pen into the ink or marking liquid, write with it on the 
sizing. To get it very hlack^ pour off into a cup the thin 
liquid from the top; dip your pen into the thick black at the 
bottom, and write with it. When you have done, return the 
thin liquid to the ink phial. Place the linen in the sun or near 
the fire, and after the ink has dried, smooth it with an iron. 
Next day, wash the marked place in a basin with cold water 
and Castile soap, to set the colour before it goes into the gene- 
ral wash. 



LIQUID COLOURS FOR MAPS, ETC. 379 

If you find, upon trial, that the ink is not black enough, add 
an inch more of lunar caustic to the small bottle. 

Durable ink may be extracted from linen, by stretching- the 
part over a cup of boiling water, and rubbing on it with your 
finger some oxalic acid or salt of lemon. Then wash the place 
immediately in warm soap-suds, and rinse it in cold water. 



LIQUID COLOURS FOR MAPS, &c.— To make a fine 
red colour, take an ounce of powdered cochineal, three-quarters 
of an ounce of cream of tartar, and a piece of alum the size 
of a hickory nut; this alum must be finely powdered. Put the 
cochineal and the alum into an earthen pipkin with rather less 
than a pint of clear soft water, and boil them for half an hour, 
stirring in gradually the cream of tartar. Then strain it, and 
put it away for use in a clean bottle tightly corked. When 
you go to use it, pour out some into a cup, and dilute it with 
water, till you get it the tint you want. 

Light Blue Colouring. — Break up a quarter of a pound of 
blue vitriol. Put it into a pipkin with less than a pint of clear 
soft water, and set it over hot coals. Add gradually, while it 
is boiling, two ounces of cream of tartar ; and boil the mix- 
ture half an hour. Then strain, and bottle it for use. This 
is a light and beautiful blue. Dilute it with water when you 
use it. 

Bright Green Colouring, — ^Take some of the above blue 
vitriol colouring, and melt in it a small lump of gamboge. 
Then stir it well. ,» 

Fine Yellow. — Dissolve lump gamboge (which must never 
be pulverized) in soft water. 

Deep Blue Colouring. — Break up a quarter of a pound of 
indigo, and put it into a large bottle. Pour on it eight ounces 
of oil of vit-'ol. Cork it, and let it stand a week, shaking it 



380 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

several times a day. By diluting- it with water, you may have 
the colour as pale as you please. By adding gamboge to this 
blue, you may make a dark green. 

Furple and Lilac. — Mix together the above blue colouring, and 
the liquid cochineal, diluting it with water to the tint required. 

Brown. — Take three ounces of copperas, break it up small, 
and boil it in a pint of water for half an hour. Then strain 
and bottle it. Dilute some of it when you wish a paler tint. 



COLOURING MAPS.— In colouring maps, if you find that 
the paper (for want of good sizing) is likely to spot or sink, 
(which you may ascertain by trying it with a little water,) go 
all over it (previous to colouring) with strong alum-water, 
washed on with a very large camel's-hair brush. Then dry it. 
Your colours for washing the land parts of the map must be 
entirely liquid, and placed beside you in cups. Have also a 
small pitcher of water to dilute them still more, if necessary. 
They should be laid on with a large brush, as evenly as possible ; 
doing all the red at once, then all the blue, then all the yellow 
&c. Designate the water with light blue carried along tha 
edge of the land, and shaded off, till nearly colourless. When 
the different sections of the map are all washed with their re- 
spective colours, and quite dry, have ready some cake colours 
rubbed on little plates or saucers, and with a fine camel's-hair 
pencil, mark out, with a dark shade of each colour, all the 
boundary outlines. 

A little ox-galJI, infused in the water will greatly brighten 
the colours, and cause them to flow more easily in the brush, 
by counteracting the greasiness of the printing ink. 



TO MAKE PAPER TRANSPARENT.— Dissolve some 
rosin in spirits of wine. Dip into it a camel's-hair brush, and 



COURT PLASTER, &C. 381 

with it go over as much of the paper as you wish to make 
transparent, doing it on both sides. 

A coloured drawing or engraving may be made by this 
application transparent in those parts where moonlight or fire- 
light is intended to be very bright. Afterwards, they can only 
be seen to advantage with a light behind them. The same 
application is used for transparencies painted on linen or thick 
muslin stretched on a frame. 



TO MAKE COURT PLASTER.—Stretch tightly, some 
thin black or flesh-coloured silk in a wooden frame, securing 
it with pack-thread or small tacks. Then go all over it with 
a soft bristle brush dipped in dissolved isinglass or strong 
gum-arabic water. Give it two or three coats, letting it dry 
between each. Then go several times over it with white of egg* 



TO MAKE POUNCE.— Powder very finely, some gum 
sandarac — sift it, and put it into a little box. It is used to 
smooth the paper after scratching out with your penknife a 
blot or an error in writing. Rub on the pounce with your finger. 



TO PRESERVE PENCIL MARKS.— If you have any 
thing drawn or written with a lead pencil that you wish to pre- 
serve from rubbing out, dip the paper into a dish of skimmed 
milk. Then dry it, and iron it on the wrong side. In ironing 
paper do not let the iron rest a moment, (as it will leave a 
crease or mark,) but go over it as rapidly as possible. 



382 



SEWING WORK. 



REMARKS. 

No sort of sewing work can go on well, unless there is at 
hand a sufficient and well chosen supply of every thing neces- 
sary to its accomplishment* 

In providing needles, short ones will generally be found most 
convenient, and their eyes should be rather large. Many of 
the needles that are put up in assorted quarters of a hundred, 
are so small as to be of no possible use to any one. There- 
fore, in buying needles, it is best to select for yourself. Have 
always some that are very large, for coarse strong purposes. 
When a needle breaks or bends, put it at once into the fire ; 
for if thrown on the floor or out of the window, it may chance 
to run into the foot of some one. It is well to get at least a 
dozen cotton spools at a time, that you may have always at 
hand the different gradations of coarse and fine. The fine 
spools of coloured cotton are far better for many purposes than 
bad sewing silk; but coloured sewing cotton should only be 
csed for things that are never to be washed, as it always fades 
after being in water. Mourning chintz should on no account 
be sewed with black cotton, as it will run when wet, and stain 
the seams. The sewing silk now made in America is of ex- 
cellent quality, and far superior to the imported both in strength 
and smoothness. Of foreign sewing silk, the Italian is good, 
provided it is not very fine; in which case, being only two 
threaded, it will split and ravel, and besides is very weak, 



S E WING W O R K. 3^3 

The best English sewing silk is excellent, being both strong 
and pliable. The India is strong, but harsh, wiry, and unplea- 
sant to use. It comes in skeins that are twisted up very tightly. 
Silk is troublesome to wind, and is weakened by the process. 
It is better to cut the skeins at the tying-place, and put them 
into long papers. By laying on each other six half-sheets of 
Jong or foolscap paper, and sewing them together down the 
middle, as if making a book, and then folding each division 
lengthways into a thread-paper, you may have a recep- 
tacle for twelve different skeins of silk; keeping them all 
compact by means of a narrow ribbon or tape tied round the 
whole. 

Except for some very slight purposes, it is best to buy no 
tape that is not twilled. Real linen tape is now scarcely to 
be found at any price; all that passes for it being only of 
glazed cotton, therefore, since you must have cotton, it is 
better to g€t the twilled, as it is very strong, and not apt to 
break. In buying cotton cord, choose that which is quite small, 
or, when covered, it will be clumsy; and see that it is clean 
and of a good white, particularly if intended for muslin; as it 
will show through the covering, and never wash whiter. It is 
well to buy a dozen hanks of cord at a time. 

In choosing galloon or silk ferret, inspect it attentively to 
see if it is not half cotton, instead of being all silk. If there 
is cotton in it, the colour will be dull, and it will very soon 
break. Ther^ are thick stout ribbons (usually broad) that have 
cotton in them, and wear rough and rusty almost immediately : 
do not buy them. 

You will require several bodkins of different sizes. The 
smoother they are, the better they will run through the cases. 
Always get them with a knob at the end. Steel bodkins are 
more serviceable than those of gold or silver; but in buying 



384 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Steel ones, take care that they are not pewter : this you may 
ascertain by trying if they will bend. 

You will find it necessary to have three pair of scissors; a 
large pair for cutting out things that are thick and heavy ; a 
smaller pair for common use, and a very small pair for work 
that is nice and delicate. They should all be sharp-pointed. 
When your scissors begin to grow dull, have them ground at 
once. The cost will not exceed six cents for each pair, (even 
if ground at a surgical instrument shop,) and haggling with 
dull scissors is very uncomfortable work. 

It is well to have always two thimbles, in case of one 
chancing to be mislaid. When you find that a hole is worn in 
your thimble, give up the use of it ; as it will catch the eyes 
of your needles and snap them oflf. 

Keep always coa.rse brown thread in the house ; also hanks 
of gray, white, and black worsted, for darning winter stockings ; 
and slack twisted cotton, and strong floss silk, for repairing 
other stockings. 

As mother-of-pearl buttons have, from their superior durabi- 
lity, almost entirely superseded the use of thread buttons, it is 
well to keep a supply of them always in the house, buying 
several cards at a time. It is a saving of expense, as well as 
of time and trouble, to buy every sort of sewing material in 
quantities, as far as convenient. There is also economy in 
purchasing plain ribbons by the piece, when they are of excel- 
lent quality. Keep your ribbons always wound on blocks and 
secured with minikin pins. You can easily obtain blocks from 
the shops where ribbons are sold. In winding on a block a 
ribbon that is in two pieces, slip the end of the second piece 
under the end left of the first, and not over it, or there will be 
a ridge. 

You should appropriate a box or drawer entirely to the pur- 



SEWING WORK. 385 

pose of keeping materials employed in sewing; the articles for 
immediate use being in your work-basket. 

There are various ingenious needle-books, so contrived as to 
contain, in a very small compass, all the implements that may 
be necessary to a lady when she takes her sewing with her on 
a visit. 

A piece of white wax, for rubbing on a needleful of sewing- 
silk to strengthen it, is a most useful little article : so also is 
a small box of prepared chalk, to dip the fingers in when the 
weather is warm and the hands damp. But, as some portion 
of the chalk will come off upon your work, it is best to use it 
only when you are sewing white things. At other times, you 
will find an emery-bag indispensable. Those that are made for 
sale have generally so little emery in them, that they are soon 
found to be useless. It is best to make your own emery-bags ; 
buying the emery yourself at a druggist's, or at a hardware 
store. 

We highly recommend a brick pincushion, as an important 
article of convenience when sewing long seams, running 
breadths, or hemming ruffles. It is too heavy to overset, and 
far superior to a screw pincushion, which can only be fixed to 
a table with a projecting edge. A brick pincushion can be set , 
any where,. even on a chair; and enables the person who has 
pinned on it her sewing, to sit always in an upright posture 
which is a great advantage ; as to be obliged to stoop inces- 
santly over your work, is extremely injurious to health. 

Get a large clean brick, not in the least broken or scaled off 
at the edges, and cover it all over with strong coarse tow 
linen, or thick cotton cloth, sewed on tightly and smoothly with 
strong thread. Then make a bag of thick linen, allowing it 
to be two or three inches larger each way thfin the top of the 
brick. Stuff the bag as hard as possible with bran or with 

33 



886 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

clean wool ; (not cotton^ as it will prevent the pins from going 
in.) You must put in at least two quarts of bran, but most 
probably more. You- can procure bran at a feed-store, or from 
a stable. In making this pincushion, you should wear a large 
apron, and keep the whole apparatus on a waiter or tray. Use 
a spoon for putting the bran into the bag ; and press it down 
as hard as possible. When the bag cannot hold any more, 
even by tight squeezing, sew up the open end. Fit the bag 
evenly all round to the top of the brick, and sew it strongly to 
the coarse linen covering. Then sew a piece of green baize 
on the bottom, where it sits on the table. Afterwards cover 
the whole pincushion (except the bottom) with thick strong 
silk, or damask, or some other substantial material. It is best 
not to ornament it with bows, as your thread may catch round 
them when you are sewing. 

All mantua-makers and seamstresses should be provided 
with brick pincushions. They can be made at a very trifling 
cost : and, with renewed coverings, will last twenty years oi 
more. 

A smaller pincushion may be made in a similar manner, 
substituting for the brick a square block of wood. These block 
pmcushions are not heavy enough to use when .sewing a long 
seam, but they are very convenient to hold the pins you may 
want when cutting out and fixing work on a bed ; for, having 
flat bottoms, they are not liable to roll off. You may also make 
a very handsome toilet pincushion with a block for its foun- 
dation. 



MAKING UP LINEN. — In buying linen, select that which 
(however fine) is thick, and has a round, close thread. If not 
a perfectly good white at first, let no persuasion induce you to 
take it; as, whatever you maybe told to the contrary, you will 



MAKING UP LINEN. 387 

find that it is beyond the skill of any laundress to whiten it, 
even by repeated washings, boilings, and spreadings on the 
grass Much of the linen that is now imported is half cotton, 
instead of being all flax ; and the deception is so complete, that 
it is extremely difficult to discover it till after washing and 
ironing. It will then be evident by the threads being flatter 
and less glossy than .when all of linen ; also it will be found 
to w^ear very badly, breaking into slits after being a short time 
in use. We have seen very fine linen of this sort, that went 
into slits even while making up, merely in stroking the gathers 
with the point of a needle. If it is offered for sale considerably 
under the usual cost of fine linen, you may justly doubt its 
goodness ; but even when a high price is asked, linen is some- 
times found deceptive. All fabrics woven of two different 
materials (as flax and cotton, cotton and silk, silk and worsted) 
are liable to slit or fray very soon ; the threads of the stronger 
article wearing out thos^ of the weaker. For a similar reason, 
what is called lustre silk also wears badly, though, at first, it 
looks very rich and glossy; but the cross-threads being much 
thicker than the others, the fine threads are cut and frayed by 
them in a very short time. 

In choosing linen, you may generally test its goodness by 
drawing one or two of the threads. If the thread breaks imme- 
diately, the linen is not good ; either being injured by the pro- 
cess of rapid bleaching, or having cotton in it. But if you can 
draw, each way, a thread of a quarter of a yard in length, )'^ou 
may consider the linen worth buying. When linen is very 
good, a thread near a yard long may be drawn in it, without 
breaking. 

Before it is cut out, the piece of linen must always be washed 
and stretched, to shrink it and take out the stiffening. In 
making up linen, take care not to sew it with thread or cotton 



,388 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

that is too fine; or the stitches, after a few washings, will 
break, and the seams rip. The stitching, however, should be 
done with very fine thread. The gathering-thread must be 
particularly strong ; otherwise it will break, and give you the 
trouble of doing the gathers over again. Many use white silk 
for gathering ; but, unless very excellent, it will break as soon 
as thread or cotton. 

The buttons also must be sewed on with very strong thread. 



TO MAKE A PLAIN SHIRT.— A long piece of yard^ 
wide linen will make eight shirts for a man of moderate size, 
and in a plain manner ; and it can be so cut out that not a 
thread of the linen will be lost. To do this, proceed as follows : 

Take an old shirt, lay it on a bed, and measure froni it the 
lengths of eight bodies, notching each length with your scissors. 
Having thus marked the divisions, cut off the whole long piece 
that you intend for all the bodies. N\)Xt, cut off, from one of 
the sides of this body-piece, a long straight strip for wrist-bands, 
shoulder-straps, sleeve-linings, sleeve-gussets, neck-gussets, 
tail-pieces, and bosom-bits. This strip must be as wide, all 
the way along, as a wrist-band before it is doubled. 

Take this long strip and (measuring by the pattern shirt) 
cut off from it sixteen double wristbands and sixteen neck- 
gussets. The neck-gussets must be cut exactly square, but 
doubled triangularly when sewed in. The strip that comes 
off from the side of the neck-gussets is for the sleeve-linings. 
The remainder will make the bosom-bits and tail-pieces. Then 
measure, by the pattern shirt, the exact size of the eight collars, 
and cut them from the large piece of linen that was left after 
the bodies were taken off. Of yard-wide linen, one breadth 
across should make three collars. From the remainder of the 
linen, cut the sleeves according to the pattern-shirt. One 



MAKING UP LINEN. 389 

breadth across should make two sleeves. You will find that 
by exactly following these directions, there will be no clippings 
or shapings, but every particle of the linen will be turned to 
account. 

The old shirt must be your model in putting together and 
sewing the different parts. It is usual to make the bodies first , 
then the sleeves ; then the collars, wrist-bands, and neck-gus- 
sets ; and lastly to put all the different parts together. 

For rufiling shirts, a breadth of wide cambric is the usual 
allowance for each side of the bosom. If the cambric is narrow, 
allow a breadth and a quarter to each side. If too full, it will 
not lie smoothly or pleat well. Half a quarter of a yard is a 
good depth for each frill. This, if the cambric is wide, allows 
a quarter of a yard to each shirt; being two yards to eight 
shirt? 

In the room where you generally cut out your sewing-work, 
you should keep a yard-stick. It is a good practice to measure 
things as soon as they are brought home ; that if there is any 
mistake in the quantity, you may discover it at once, and«have 
It rectified. « 

In teaching a little girl plain sewing, it is not necessary that 

she should begin with a shirt; particularly if she learns at 

tichool, where making a shirt is always a very slow business, and 

where some of the pieces are frequently lost during the process. 

A. much better way is, to let a child practise the varieties of 

plain sewing on a yard of fine shirting muslin, on which her 

instructer may contrive to show her specimens of all the 

different things belonging to shirt-making; such as sewing 

selvage seams; back-stitching and felling; hemming; fine 

stitching; working button-holes ; making gathers and sewing 

them in ; tail-pieces, bosom-bits, neck-gussets, &c. When a 

little girl has successfully accomplished all that can be don« 

33* 



&90 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

on one of these preparatory yards of muslin, (or plain-wori 
samplers,) she Mali find no difficulty in making a shirt. In 
teaching a young person to cut out linen, you had best let her 
begin with night-shirts, which (Bxcept that they are now made 
long enough to descend to the feet) are cut out precisely accord- 
ing to the foregoing directions for a plain day-shirt. 



SHIRTS WITH BOSOM PIECES.— For a man of mode- 
rate size, you may take from the side of a piece of yard-wide 
linen, a strip that will suffice for the wrist-bands ; of course 
allowing them double. Each body may be measured about a 
yard in length. 

Cut out of the fore-body of each a square piece, three fingers 
long and three fingers wide. This square piece, split in two, 
must be sewed as lining on each side of the back part of the 
body. The false bosoms, collars, &c., are frequently made of 
finer linen than the rest of the shirt. The false bosom must 
be wider on the left side than on the right; for instance, half 
a yard and a nail (or sixteenth of a yaid) on the left side, and 
a quarter and a half-quarter on the right. It must have a broad 
tuck on each side ; and on the edge of the left (where it lies 
over the right) a broad hem, with a row of stitching near the 
extreme edge. This bosom piece should be neatly inserted 
into the square place cut out for its reception, back-stitching 
and felling it down, and making the seams as small as possible. 
When sewing it to the two lower corners of the bosom piece, 
two pleats must be laid in the body of the shirt. The wrist- 
bands should be cut of a crescent form, and the sleeve gathered 
into the hollow or concave part. Do not make them bias, oi 
ihey will stretch out of shape in ironing. 

Shirts made in this manner may either have a collar sewed 



M A K 1 X G U P L I N E N. • 391 

on perrnanently, or you may finish them with a binding round 
the neck, to be worn with a false collar. 



A SHIRT OPEN AT THE BACK OF THE NECK.— 

If the shirts are for a man of moderate size, and the linen is 
yard-wide, you may, in cutting out the body, (which should 
be a yard in length,) take a strip off the side for the.wrist-bands, 
&c. Slit the back of the shirt, down from the neck, about half 
a yard deep. This slit must be hemmed ; and at its termina- 
tion a tuck is to be laid all the way down the remainder of the 
shirt-back. Cut a square piece out of the upper part of the 
fore-body, (about a quarter and a half-quarter deep, and the 
same in width,) for the purpose of admitting a full bosom piece. 
This square piece of linen will come into use for sleeve-linings, 
shoulder-linings, &c. The bosom piece must be cut about 
three-quarters wide, and a quarter and a half-quarter deep. It 
is to be set into the open square made for its reception in the 
fore-body ; first laying it into three broad pleats of equal size, 
basting them down till you have fitted the bosom piece and cut 
out the neck to the proper size. Then close-stitch the pleats 
all the way down by a drawn thread. Afterwards insert the 
bosom piece into its place, back-stitching and felling it down 
neatly, first basting it in. Dispose of the extra width of the 
fore-body (where it joins the lower part of the bosom piece) by 
laying small pleats, one at each comer, and two meeting in the 
centre. Insert into the top of each shoulder (where the collar 
is to go on) a neck-gusset, gathered a little at the upper edge. 
Line the tops of the shoulders with an under piece about half 
a finger broad. 

Gather the back of the neck ; having cut out the front, round- 
ing it downwards. The neck, both before and behind, must 
have a binding made of a double piece of linen, about half a 



392 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

finger deep when doubled. This bindmg must be a straight 
band, and should have two buttons and button-holes behind, 
(one above another,) and directly in front a button to sustain 
the false collar with which these shirts are always worn. 

The sleeves must be cut quite straight. A breadth of yard- 
wide linen will make a pair of sleeves. The sleeve-gassets 
may be a fiijger and a half square. Gather the sleeves at the 
shoulders and at the wrists. The wrist-bands must be of 
double linen, (not cut bias,) in depth about a finger. They 
should be cut spreading or fanning, so as to be wider on the 
back of the hand than at the wrist, and hollowed out or made 
concave at the bottom, where they are sewed on to the sleeve- 
gathers. Round them off at the upper corners, and finish them 
with a row of fine stitching, a very little distance from the 
edge. Put a button and button-hole to each. 

No other buttons . are now used for shirts than those of 
mother-of-pearl. 



TO MAKE A FALSE COLLAR.— Take a straight pie^ 
of double linen, about two inches deep when doubled, and turn 
in the edges. This is for the band or basis of the collar, and 
is concealed under the cravat. For the cheeks or visible part 
of the collar, cut out two pieces of linen, (with linings for 
each,) making them about half a finger deep in front, or perhaps 
deeper. Slope their upper edges down towards the back of the 
neck, till their depth is reduced to little more than an inch ; 
and give the lower e.dges a slight curve inwards, where it is to 
oin the straight neck-band. The front corners that come on 
the cheeks must be rounded off, and sloped a little inwards as 
they descend to the neck-band, into which these cheek pieces 
must be sewed. They must have a row of fine stitching all 
round, a little distance from the upper edge. Directly in fronJ 



MAKING UP LINEN. 393 

of the neck-band to "which they are sewed, make a perpendicular 
button-hole, to meet the button on the inner binding of the 
shirt-neck. Strengthen the lower part of this button-hole by 
sewing a bit of fine tape at its bottom. At the back of the 
false collar, sew to each end a string of fine tape, (about half 
a yard long,) to tie it on with. 

For a moderate-sized man, the collar-band may measure 
somewhat more than a quarter and a half-quarter round the 
neck. 



A FALSE SHIRT-BOSOM.— Take a piece of yard-wide 
linen, at least a quarter and a half-quarter in length, and make 
a narrow hem up each side, slightly sloping them towards the 
shoulders. Lay ever in the middle a broad tuck, that, when 
folded or creased down, will be a nail in breadth; and close to 
it, on both sides, make two smaller tucks, each a little more 
than an inch broad. The broad or middle tuck must be stitched 
down permanently, and it should have a row of fine stitching 
near the folded edge. The other four tucks need only be laid 
over; basting them down to keep them in place till after they 
are secured by the bindings at top and bottom. At the bottom 
put a binding of linen, about an inch and a half broad when 
doubled ; working a cross-way or horizontal button-hole in the 
centre of its front, and sewing to each extremity of the binding 
tape strings about half a yard in length. Bind the neck with 
a strip of linen, about an inch and a half broad when doubled, 
and perhaps a quarter and a half-quarter in length ; and make 
directly in front a cross-way button-hole. Between the neck- 
binding and the main piece of linen, insert at each shoulder a 
sm.all single neck-gusset, cut out in a triangular shape, about 
half a finger each way. Sew on each 6nd of the neck-binding 
a tape string about half a yard long. 



394 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

These false shirt bosoms are, of course, always worn with 
separate collars tied on above them. 



CHEMISES.— For the body, cut two breadths of yard wide 
linen into lengths of a yard and a quarter each. This will 
make a chemise sufficiently long for a middle-sized woman, or 
for one rather above the middle size. For a small woman, a 
yard and a half quarter will be long enough. From one side 
of each breadth, cut a gore to sew on the other side ; thus 
giving an equal slope to both. The gores should be little more 
than an inch wide at the top. Pin the selvage sides of the 
gores to the selvage edges of the linen, lay them evenly on a 
bed, and slope the gores upwards at the bottom; otherwise, 
their lower ends will daggle down in peaks. The pieces sloped 
off the bottoms of the gores must be kept to line the sleeve- 
holes. 

If the sleeves are to have broad hems, cut them a quarter of 
a yard deep. One breadth across the linen will make a pair 
of sleeves, excepting the gussets. If they are to be gathered 
on an arm-band, a half-quarter and a nail will be a sufficient 
depth for them. Next, cut out the sleeve-gussets, allowing 
each a finger square. A breadth across will make four sleeve- 
gussets and two shoulder-straps. The shoulder-straps should 
be half a finger broad, (when doubled,) and two fingers in 
length. 

If you have plain loose sleeves with a broad hem, the che- 
mise, to correspond, should have the neck or top (it being 
perfectly straight across, behind and before) simply i'aced on 
the inside with a fine twilled tape, so as to form a case for a 
drawing string. If the bottoms of the sleeves are gathered 
into arm-bands, the neck or top of the chemise body m-ay be 
gathered also into a band, made to fit the width across, from 



MAKING UP LINEN. 395 

shoulder to shoulder; in which case, there must be a slit of a 
quarter of a yard deep, either down the back, or down the front 
of the neck, fastening with buttons. Cut this band bias. 

Make the body of the chemise first ; finishing the neck, and 
putting- on the shoulder-straps. Then have ready the sleeves, 
and set them into the sleeve-holes left at the two sides. The 
sleeves should be gathered on the top of the shoulder, and the 
shoulder-straps felled down upon them, on each side. If there 
are arm-bands, they should sit loosely round" the arm. Next, 
take the sloped pieces that came off the bottom of the gores, 
and with them, line that part of the body that forms the sleeve- 
holes; carrying down the lining about an inch below the lower 
corner of the gusset. This will greatly strengthen the part 
round the sleeve-holes. 

Cut out in the above manner, the whole of the linen will 
come into use, and there will be no shapings or clippings what- 
ever. What is called a lojig piece of yard-wide linen, will 
thus make ten chemises for a woman of moderate size ; with 
the addition of an extra yard and a quarter to complete the 
body of the last. 

A lady's chemise may be trimmed with thread edging, Math 
tetting, or with linen cambric frilling. The frilling, to look 
neatly, should be very narrow. In fulness, allow it a little 
more than twice and a half the extent of the parts on which it 
is sewed. 

For winter, chemises with long sleeves are very comfortable; 
and are good preventives against rheumatism, particularly 
when made of fine thick American muslin or domestic cot- 
ton. These sleeves may be half a yard and half a quartei 
long; they need not extend down quite so far as the wrist. 
One breadth of wide cotton, split in half, will make a pair of 
long sleeves, to which square gussets must be added. Yol 



696 * THE HOUSE BOOK. 

may gather them at the lower part of the arm, as well as at 
the shoulder ; leaving a small slit, and setting on a band to 
fasten with a button. Or you may leave them loose at the 
bottom, merely finishing with a broad hem. In case of illness, 
it is most convenient to have these long sleeves unconfined at 
the bottom, that they may be rolled up above the elbow when 
bleeding is necessary. 

MAKING UP FLANNEL.— No one that can afford the 
price of fine flannel, should ever buy it coarse. There is no 
coarse flannel that can be washed without shrinking much 
more than if it was fine ; also, it is rough and unpleasant to 
wear, and catches dust and dirt immediately. In purchasing 
flannel, look particularly at the blue selvage edge ; if that is 
thin, uneven, and coarse, the flannel is not gooll ; but if the 
selvage is stout, fine, and close in its texture, you will find the 
flannel to wear well. For grown persons, always get the wide 
flannel. Three breadths will make a petticoat for a woman 
of moderate size ; and if the breadths are a yard and a quarter 
in length, they will allow three tucks, to be let out suceessively 
as the flannel shrinks. Before making it up, flannel should 
always be washed ; first dividing the breadths, but do not cut 
off the blue selvage till after the washing. 

In sewing flannel, lay the two raw edges one over the other, 
and run them together along the middle, with short close 
stitches. Then cat-stitch or herring-bone each of the raw 
edges down to the flannel, making both sides of the seam 
exactly alike, and doing it very neatly. In making a flannel 
petticoat, put one breadth before and two behind. At the top, 
leave, exactly in front, a quarter of a yard quite plain ; pleat 
the rest, except just behind, and there gather it. Bind it with 
white linen, and finish the pleats with a row of close stitching, 



MAKING UP FLANNEL. 397 

an inch below the binding. Sew to the binding straps olbroad 
twilled tape to go over the shoulders ; making the straps long 
enough to allow the petticoat-binding to be a little below tlie 
waist of your dresses. It is a good plan to have in the back 
part of the petticoat-binding two cases, each about a quarter 
of a yard long, nicely stitched, "with one end of each left open, 
and an eyelet-hole worked on the outside of the binding at the 
other termination of the casings. Into these cases, run long 
strings of twilled tape, in the manner of reticule strings, to 
draw both ways ; each string being long enough to cross in 
front, and then go round the waist and tie behind. The loose 
ends of the strings should have a thick rolled hem, to prevent 
them, when stretched out, from slipping back into the eyelet- 
holes. 

Baby's flannel is frequently bound with white ribbon. Many 
ladies also bind the bottoms of their petticoats with ribbon. 
It looks very nicely at first, but has the disadvantage of shrink: 
ing after it is washed, of turning yellow, and of very sooU 
wearing off, and requiring renewal. 

Flannel shirts, jackets, &c., should be made full large at first, 
to allow for shrinking. 

All the seams and Jbems of flannel must be made very flat; 
the hems finished with a row of running close along the edge. 
None of the raw edges should be turned in and felled down, as 
it renders them too clumsy. The cat-stitch or herring-bone 
should be used instead of felling. The slits must all be cat- 
stitched down, and secured at the bottom with a bit of tape 
'lewed across. 

In running a tuck, whether on flannel or any thing else, the 
best way of regulating its width so as to make it all the way 
precisely even, is to cut out a bit of stiflf card exactly the depth 
you intend to make the tuck, including the regular distance 

34 



398 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

from the hem or from the last tuck below. This distance you 
may designate by making a notch in the perpendicular edge 
of the card. Keep this bit of card between the thumb and 
finger of your left hand, holding it lightly down on the tuck, 
and moving it along as you proceed. With this guide, it is 
impossible to run the tucks otherwise than straight and even ; 
and it precludes the necessity of stopping to measure as you 
go along. Tucking with a card, is said to be an invention of 
Dr. Franklin's, who suggested it to his daughter one evening 
when he observed her taking much trouble in trying to get a 
tuck even, by measuring it every few minutes with the part 
already done. 

LADIES' NIGHT-GOWNS.— Night-gowns for summer 
may be made of narrow-corded cambric dimity, of cambric 
muslin, or of striped or cross-barred muslin; each of these 
articles being ell-wide or yard and a quarter, which is the real 
^idth of what is called six-quarter muslin. For winter, they 
are most comfortable of fine, thick American muslin, the widest 
"yow can get; but it rarely exceeds a full yard in width. 

Where the winters are very severe, night-gowns of wide 
white flannel are much in use. 

For a moderately tall woman, the length from the neck down 
to the feet, may be a yard and a half; this will generally allow 
a good sized hem at the bottom. In making a night-gown of 
ell-wide or yard and quarter muslin, two breadths will usually 
be found sufficient for the front and back from the shoulders 
down. Having measured two breadths, cut a gore from the 
side of each, not the whole length, but beginning the slope 
about a quarter and a half-quarter from the top ; so that when 
sewed on, each gore will commence just below the sleeve hole. 
JSew the selvage edge of these gores to the selvage or straight 



NIGHT-GOWNS. 399 

edge of the breadths ; making the two sloped edges come to- 
gether, and rounding or sloping up the corners at the bottom, 
as in a chemise. The two breadths at the top are to be joined 
together, after sloping the shoulders down from the neck. The 
slope down from the top of the neck to the top of the sleeve- 
hole, should not exceed a finger length, or half a quarter. If 
the shoulders are long, and the sleeve-holes small, (according 
to the present fashion of day-dresses,) the night-gown will 
drag down uncomfortably, and the upper part will consequently 
tear or wear out very soon. Having cut the shoulder slopes 
exactly even, round out the sleeve-holes ; giving them the same 
scoop or curve on both sides, and allowing them very large and 
easy. The length of the sleeves from the top of the shoulder 
to the hand, may be about three-quarters of a yard. A breadth 
of what is called six-quarter muslin will make a pair of 
sleeves; dividing this breadth down the middle into two pieces, 
and sloping a gore off one side of each piece, to sew^ to the 
straight side of the other. After these gores are fitted, round 
oif the tops of the sleeves, but not so much as for a frock ; the 
front part of each sleeve-top should have a scoop or curve in- 
ward, the scoop beginning at the seam and going up along the 
front of the shoulder. All the seams in a night-gown should be 
back-stitched and felled ; and the shoulders should be strength- 
ened at the joining-place, by stitching them down upon broad 
pieces of twilled tape basted underneath. In cutting out the 
neck, round out the front much more than the back. Cut a slit 
down the front breadth of the night-gown, a little more to the 
left side than to the right, so as to allow for a perpendicular 
tuck to be laid over, all down the front, from the neck to the 
feet. The length of the slit downwards may be something 
less than half a yard. On the tuck-side are to be worked half 
a dozen perpendicular button-holes. The other side is to have 



400 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

a facing of muslin the same breadth as the tuck ; the facing to 
descend an inch or two below the slit, so as to strengthen it at 
the bottom. On the faced side of the slit, set half a dozen 
pearl buttons. 

The shape and size of the collar is a matter of taste ; but for 
a plain square collar, you may have a piece of m.uslin about a 
quarter of a yard deep and half a yard in width ; if for a broad 
hem, it must be larger every way. If you wish the collar to 
sit closely, give it no scoop at the back of the neck, but let it 
be perfectly straight all along, where it is sewed on to the 
gathers. Line the collar, not throughout, but merely about 
half a finger up ; sewing in between the lining and the outside 
the gathers of the neck. Place a button and button-hole at the 
bottom of the collar. The sleeves may either be finished with 
a wrist-band at the bottom, or left loose with merely a broad 
hem; the latter way is best for convenience. The collar and 
wrists of a lady's night-gown may be trimmed with frilling of 
a thinner muslin, or lace-edging. Or, what is much easier 
and less expensive, they may be finished with points or scol- 
lops along the edge ; made by laying down a hem on the right 
side, and, with a bit of card cut into the proper shape, marking 
the scollops along this hem with a pencil, but not so close as 
to make them join each other. Then run the scollops along 
by the pencil-marks, taking very short stitches ; and, when 
done, cut them out with sharp scissors, a little distance above 
the sewing. Next turn them over, so as to make them right 
side out; poking their edges even with the blunt end of a bod- 
kin slipped inside : and then finish by hemming down the 
straight edge. 

Instead of sewing the gathers into the collar, night-gowns 
are very frequently made with what is called a yoke ; that is, 
a piece of muslin cut bias and made double, and carried ovei 



NIGHT-GOWNS. 40 1 

kh€ shoulders. The back and front of the gown, and the tops 
of the sleeves are gathered into the yoke, which, to look well, 
should not be too deep. Less than a finger behind, and less 
than half a finger directly ifi front, will be quite deep enough. 
The yoke should be corded all round, and have two buttons 
to fasten it in front. 

For very warm weather, it is well to have some cross-barred 
muslin night-gowns, with short full sleeves, gathered on a 
band ; and, instead of a collar, the neck also to be gathered on 
a narrow band. They will be found very cool and pleasant in 
■flights of extreme heat. 

If there is too much fulness in the back of a night-gown, it 
will drag downwards off the neck behind, and ride up (as it is 
■called) at the throat. To avoid entirely this inconvenience, 
night-gowns, when of six-quarter muslin, are sometimes made 
with the back-breadth sloped into two very large gores ; sewing 
them both together by the sloped edges, so as to make a long 
seam up the middle of the back, from the neck to the feet ; the 
small ends of the gores coming together at the top, and fitting 
into the collar or the yoke without having any gathers behind. 
This manner of cutting increases the width at the bottom of 
the gown. Where the gore-seam terminates at the lower end, 
each gore should be sloped considerably upwards ; otherwise 
they will hang down in an awkward point. 

Loose gowns of black India silk are very convenient. For 
winter they should be lined all through with slate-coloured 
glazed muslin. 

DOUBLE WRAPPERS.— These may be cut out in the 

same manner as night-gowns. If made of calico or gingham, 

it is best to have both lining and outside of the same material. 

The seams are all inside, so as to have no raw edges. If 

3.1* 



402 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

intended chiefly for comfort, (as all wrappers ought to be») il 
is best to make them loose all the wa)'- down, without attempt- 
ing any thing like a body ; as is sometimes done by having a 
plain back, with a case at the bottom, set on a gathered skirt 
behind. These backs never look even tolerably well, unless 
they are drawn in tightly to the waist, and worn with a belt 
and over corsets ; all which, if the wrapper is designed for a 
garment of ease, will defeat the purpose. 



QUILTED WRAPPERS.— These, the warmest of all 
wrappers, are extremely convenient to slip on in case of being 
called up in a cold night, or after coming home late in a winter 
evening to wear while preparing for bed ; also for many other 
purposes. They are generally made of dark calico, which 
should have no white in the figure ; and it is best to have them 
lined with the same. A light-coloured lining looks soiled 
almost immediately ; and a lining of glazed muslin should on 
no account be put in, as none of these muslins will bear wash- 
ing ; for their colour, when wet, will run in streams, and spoil 
the outside of the wrapper. Quilted wrappers are generally 
cut so as to wrap over very much to one side, and are left open 
all the way down, so as to be easily slipped on. There should 
be no gathers or pleats at the top, either behind or before ; as 
the wadding will make any fulness there uncomfortably clumsy. 
By sloping the back from below the arm-holes upwards, you 
can have it qiiite plain at the place where the collar goes on. 
The collar should be a square turn-over, sitting closely to the 
back of the neck. The sleeves ought to be long, wide, and 
set high up on the shoulders, with a large easy arm-hole. 

After the whole has been cut out, and the breadths sewed 
together, lay the wadding (it should be white, thick, and not 
split) between the lining and the outside, and quilt it in largt 



. NIGIIT-CAPE AND HOOD. 403 

diamonds, with long needlefuls of dark-coloured silk. Then 
quilt the sleeves and the collar, and when done put them toge- 
ther. Some persons find it more convenient to quilt ail the 
breadths separately. The quilting may be done either in a 
frame or on a large table. 

If made of proper materials, a quilted wrapper may be washed 
as often as necessary, in the same manner as a bed-quilt. 



A NIGHT-CAPE. — These are very convenient for ladies 
to wear when going to or returning from a summer evening 
party; or upon any occasion when a cloak would be too warm, 
and when a shawl would crush the upper part of the dress. 
The skirts of two left-ofF silk dresses will make a night-cape, 
which should be very large, "So as to cover lightly nearly the 
whole of the arms, as well as the shoulders and back. 

Having ripped apart the skirts of two dresses, let the silk be 
sprinkled and ironed smoothly. Then lay the breadths of the 
outside together, so as to form an exact square, as large as you 
can get it. Do the same with the breadths of the silk that is 
to form the lining. Having run all the seams, and pressed 
them with a warm iron, (wetting them first with your finger 
dipped in water,) baste together the two squares of silk, and 
cut them into an exact circle. In the centre cut a round hole 
to admit the neck, and then split the front of the cape straight 
down ; afterwards sloping it upwards a little, where it meets 
at the bottom. Cord the edge all round, and bind the neck 
with a band of the same silk. You may fasten it down the 
front either with buttons or with strings of ribbon. 



TO MAKE A LADY'S HOOD.— Get a yard and a half 
of wide dark coloured silk for the outside, an equal quantity 
of light-coloured silk for the lining, and four yards of narrow 



404 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

mantua ribbon, the colour of the lining ; three ounces of eider- 
down, (which you may obtain from a furrier;) four slips of fine 
light bonnet-cane ; sewing silk to match the outside ; and a 
yard and a half of broad mantua ribbon for strings, also the 
colour of the outside. For the main part of the hood, take 
three quarters and a nail, or an exact square of the silk, to be 
cut after you have laid it bias, as both lining and outside are 
to be cut so. At the part which ascends from the back of the 
neck to the back of the head, cut a slope upwards, about a 
finger in length. Next, hem down upon the lining the outside 
silk along the front edge of the hood, along one of the' sides, 
and at the back edge ; and run, at equal distances, three oi 
four small double casings, which must go horizontally or across 
the silk, so as to form it into divisions. When these are done, 
take the eider-d®wn, open the end of the paper bag that con- 
tains it, and pour it carefully, and in equal portions, into each 
of the divisions that you run in the silk. When you have got 
all the eider-down in, secure it by running together the side of 
the hood that was left open to admit it. Then put drawing 
strings of the narrow ribbon (the colour of the lining) into the 
casings, bringing out the strings so as to tie at the side and 
not in the middle. In the last or farthest back casing, run a 
slip of cane about three quarters and a nail in length, and draw 
up the silk full upon it ; bending the cane round into a circle, 
and securing it well at both of its ends. Sew up the slope at 
the hind part of the hood, and whip over with a gathering 
thread the edge of the remaining silk ; drawing it all as close 
as possible, till the whole edge is brought together in one place 
at the back of the head. Next, draw the cases to the fulness 
you wish, by pulling the ribbon that is run in them ; and then 
slip in, between the lining and the outside, three or four canes, 
as long as the full width of the silk. These canes go alter- 



A lady's HOOD. 405 

nately with the drawings, arching- up, with the silk stretching 
plain over them. Tack the canes here and there to the lining, 
and secure them well by making a little split at each of the 
ends, and sewing them fast to the silk. 

Afterwards, bind with a narrow strip of lined silk, about an 
inch broad, the tAvo sides of the hood where they come down 
on the neck ; gathering them to fit the binding, which should 
be about a quarter and a half quarter in length, so as to fit the 
neck of the wearer and meet under her chin. To the lower 
edge of this binding sew on the cape, gathering it to fit. The 
cape must be made bias ; and when lining it, leave one end 
open till after you have poured in some eider down. Of the 
remaining silk make a large bow (edged with a bias binding) 
to go at the back of the head, on the place where all the gathers 
meet in a centre. Sew short strings of the narrow ribbon along 
the inside of the neck-binding, so as to meet each of the ends 
of those strings that draw the casings, and tie with them. 
Lastly, sew on the broad strings that are to tie the hood under 
the chin. 

These are the most convenient hoods that are made ; as they 
can be drawn up or let out so as to go over any head, even 
when drest high, or with a cap or turban. And being stuffed 
with eider-down, they are so light that they never crush or dis- 
compose any thing that is beneath them. If wadding is sub- 
stituted for eider-down, it must be basted to the lining, and the 
casings run afterwards. 

There should be no trimming along the front edge of a hood, 
as it is apt to catch in the hair. 

To look well, the outside and the lining of a hood should be 
so contrasted as to harmonize well in colour. For instance, a 
purple silk outside, with a lining of pale blue, light yellow, 
gold colour, or buff colour ; or a dark brown, ox slate-coloured 



406 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

outside, with a pale pink or light blue lining. A black hood 
may be lined with gray, pale blue, or pink : an olive-coloured 
outside with either light pea-green, pale pink, or light lilac. 

If properly taken care of, and not exposed to rain, a well- 
made hood of new silk will last a great many years. 

A summer hood maybe made in the same manner as one for 
winter : but, of course, without eider-down or wadding. 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING.— Notwithstanding the 
almost incessant changes of fashion, there are certain general 
rules in the art of mantua-making that never vary, and which 
it may be well to point out for the instruction of those who are 
desirous of making their own dresses. Young persons who 
live in the country will find it very convenient to have some 
knowledge of the manner of accomplishing this business; and 
even in cities there are many who, from considerations of eco- 
nomy, might be glad to understand as much of the art as would 
enable them to cut out and put together at least their common 
dresses : which often, when done by a mantua-maker, cost more 
for the making than the price of the material. 

In purchasing a dress, always get what is called a large 
pattern ; that is, an ample allowance of the stuff. What is left 
will no doubt come into use for altering, mending, renewing 
cuffs, &c. ; or perhaps it may be wanted for a new body. Also, 
if a dress is scantily made, it will never look well, howevei 
expensive the material ; particularly if the skirt is too narrow^ 

In buying silk, you can best ascertain its thickness by hold- 
ing a part of it between your eyes and the light. If very stiff, 
it is highly gummed, and therefore cannot wear wxll, as the 
gum will cause it to cut or split at the pleats or gathers. Soft 
thick silks, with both sides alike, cut- out the most advanta- 
geously, and wear the best. Figured or flowered silks look 



^ HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 407 

beau ifully for a short time; but in consequence of then flos- 
siness, the sprigs soon begin to wear rough, and the spaces 
between them seem to contract and appear shrivelled. This 
is the case with most silks whose figure is embossed or thrown 
up on the outside. What are called watered silks look, after 
a while, as if they had been literally watered or wetted all 
over. The gros-de-nap silks that are now imported, are so 
narrow, thin, and stiff, that they are rarely worth buying. A 
good double Florence or Marcelline is much better for an eco- 
nomical silk dress. Reps silk of the best quality is soft, glossy, 
and wears well : so does gros d'Afrique, and so does Turkish 
satin, which is a thick, soft, twilled silk. English satin is 
very superior in quality to the French. Satin is very liable to 
fray on the surface, and if not of the best sort, it wears badly. 
For a very lasting dress, nothing is more durable than a thick, 
double width, India black satin ; and it is well worth its price. 
The best India senshaws wear well, and are not apt to stain ; 
but the colours are seldom handsome, and the texture, though 
thick, is rarely fine. They are yard-wide, and very good for 
lining cloaks and pelisses. In buying plaid silks, avoid those 
that have any white in them, as they look soiled almost 
immediately. A plaid dress will make a short woman appear 
much shorter. Ladies who are no longer young always look 
best in dark-coloured dresses, whatever may be the material ; 
and when decidedly old, there is no colour so proper for theru 
as black. 

Ladies with hair inclining to auburn should avoid bulf-colour, 
fawn-colour, and all shades of yellow, pink, or scarlet. To 
them, white, black, slate-colour, dark brown, purple, lilac, blue, 
and pea-green are most becoming. A brunette ought not to 
wear gray, or lilac, or grass-green. To all persons that are 
very pale, every shade of green or blue is unbecoming. Young 



408 THE HOUSE BOOK-. 

ladies who have dark hair and fair complexions, (a rare bill 
beautiful combination,) may wear any colour whatever. To 
very young girls no dress is so becoming as white, particularly 
in summer. In buying white silks or ribbons, choose only 
such as are called a dead white. Pearl-white and rose-white 
are the worst possible tints to go next the skin, whatever may 
be the complexion of the wearer. There are many shades of 
yellow that at night resemble a bad white; and many of 
light green that, except in day-time, look like a bad blue. 
Purples at night may frequently be mistaken for a dull black. 
Lilac is a very bad night-colour. So is olive. 

Merinoes, chalys, and mousselines de laine, if they are not 
of the very best quality, soon begin to look rough and soiled, 
catching the dust immediately. In selecting painted muslins, 
chintzes, and ginghams, ask for a little slip as a sample, and 
try how it will wash and iron before ^ou purchase the dress. 
Give it a fair washing in a little warm soap-suds, rinse it in 
cold water, and then dry and iron it. There are certain shades 
of light blue, pink, yellow, and green, that bear washing very 
well, but change immediately when ironed. All cotton fabrics 
are best for having little or no glazing or stiffening. If the 
figure is nearly as distinct on the wrong side as on the right, 
it is an evidence that it is well printed, and not likely to 
wash out. 

In buying velvet, see that the wrong side is of silk, as well 
as the right, and not of cotton, as is frequently the case. If 
of cotton, it will wear badly, and the colour will rub off. 
Velvet, to wear well, should be soft as well as thick, and th€ 
ground well covered with the pile. A velvet dress is very 
liable to crease behind, the marks of the creases showing very 
plainly. To prevent this, let the skirt be very full, and the 
hind-breadths wadded and lined. As a velvet dress is nevei 



HINTS OS DRESS-MAKING. 409 

worn in warm weather, the wadding will be no inconve- 
nience. 

The best lining for the skirts and sleeves of dresses is either 
paper-muslin or the stiff coarse book-muslin that comes for the 
purpose; The skirt of any dress that is not to be washed, will 
last much longer, and keep clean better, if lined throughout. 
In case it should require turning, a merino pelisse or cloak 
should always have a thin lining interposed between the wad- 
ding and the outside ; otherwise, when taken apart to be turned, 
it will be found impossible, by any process, to get the shreds 
of cotton entirely off. Even washing the merino will not 
remove them. In basting wadding to a lining, use always 
strong sewing silk ; as cotton thread (when the stitches are 
very long) is apt to break after being worn a while, and then 
the 'wadding gets loose. Take very long needlefuls ; and 
when you begin with a new one, tie its end firmly in a knot to 
that of the last. Let the basting stitches go in waves up and 
down, catching the lining slightly, but securing at equal dis- 
tances every part of the wadding. If you split the wadding, 
lay the split side next to the lining, the glazed side uppermost. 

Ladies would do well to make common cause in pretesting 

against the practice that prevails in many of the stores, (we 

should be sorry to find it universal,) of using printed paper for 

wrapping up articles that are purchased there, even when those 

articles are white, light-coloured, and cannot be washed. The 

liability of printing ink to rub off is proved whenever we take 

a newspaper into our hands ; and therefore it is of all things 

the most unfit for enclosing silks, laces, ribbons, &c. Indeed, 

there is nothing whatever that may not be more or less soiled 

by putting it up in newspaper. A constant and liberal stpply 

of the soft paper made expressly for wrapping, (and which can 

be purchased by the quantity at a very trifling cost,) ought to 

35 



410 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

be considered by all store-keepers as a part of. their necessary 
expenditure ; and to have 'every article put up in a neat and 
proper manner, and so that it can receive no injury on its way 
home, is a duty they owe to their customers. If every lady 
would make a point of remonstrating, when she sees an' article 
that she has purchased wrapped up in a piece of printed paper, 
we think this grievance would soon cease. 



THE BODY OF A DRESS.— In commencing a dress the 
first thing is to fit and cut out the body-lining, which should 
always be made of good linen ; as linen that is thin and coarse, 
will stretch out of shape when the outside is putting on, and 
shrink very much on being washed. For a white dress, or any 
one that is to be washed, the lining must be of linen that is 
perfectly white; otherwise the brownish tint, however pale, 
will show through. For a dark silk or merino dress, the lining 
may be of fine brown holland. A yard of linen will make a 
body-lining for a person of moderate size, and it must be quite 
smooth when you cut it; not in the least rumpled or creased. 
The person to be fitted, should wear at the time one of her 
best setting dresses. Over the fore-body of this, let the linen 
be pinned, placing it bias, and putting several pins at the shoul- 
ders, sides, and waist. Fold over at the bottom of the waist, 
•two very large pleats slanting upward, and diminishing gradu- 
ally to a point as they ascend to the bosom. If these pleats 
are small and narrow, the dress will inevitably be too tight 
across the front ; compressing the bosom painfully, and making 
it look flat and contracted. This is a very common fault with 
dress-makers, who depend entirely on giving an artificial fulness 
to the bosom, by means of wadding. The fore-body leaves 
off at the shoulder-seams, and after it is fitted, the back should 
be done. The lining of the back must be cut straight-way of 



HINTS ON DRESS MAKING. 41 

t\je linen, (not bias,) and it must be pinned very smoothly on 
the back of the dress worn at the time by the person for whom it 
is intended ; allowing sufficient everywhere for turning in, and 
for outlet if the dress should afterwards be found too tight. The 
lining must be allowed longer in the waist than the model dress, 
as it takes up greatly in sewing on the skirt. For a person of 
hollow back and taper form, the side-seams should have a con- 
siderable slope inwards from the arm-hole, to the lower extre- 
mity of the waist; otherwise, the dress will not set well in to 
the lower part of the back, even when made very tight. Where 
the waist is thick, the slope inwards should be less ; and some 
figures require none at all. If the back of the person is rather 
round, or the shoulders very prominent, (as they frequently 
become, from habitually compressing the waist to excessive 
tightness,) the body should be cut considerably longer behind, 
so as to allow sufficient space for the projection of the shoulders. 
When the back is flat and straight, the body need be no longer 
behind than at the sides. Be very careful not to cut the body- 
lining too short either behind or before ; for to all figures, a 
short waist is unbecoming. In cutting out the sleeve-holes, 
notch them in front, and allow them sufficiently easy ; particu- 
larly, just under the arms. Give the shoulders a considerable 
slope inwards towards the neck ; otherwise the dress will set 
too loose about the upper part. Next, with a piece of tape, 
measure the length of the skirt from the waist behind, down 
to the heels, allowing sufficient for the hem or facing. 

After the lining has been fitted and cut out over the model- 
dress, take it off and baste it together; also basting down the 
large pleats. Then let it be tried on, and fitted a second time 
upon the corset only. This is the time to remedy any faults 
in the cutting out or basting together. If it is found too loose 
about the upper part of the back, slope it in a little more 



412 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

towards the neck. If the top of the front is too loose, slope 
that also a little more in to the neck. If too tight, let it out 
sufficiently, by opening the shoulder-seam. Should the lower 
part of the back be too loose, take it in a little at the side-seam 
under the arms. If the waist is too tight, let it out at the side- 
seam of the fore-body ; or it may be necessary to let out both 
the back and the fore-body. A dress, to fit well, should have 
no wrinkle whatever under the arms, or indeed in any place 
where it ought to be perfectly smooth. A body will frequently 
set badly, not because it is too loose, but from the sleeve-hole 
being so small that the dress cannot be got on sufficiently ; 
causing it to hang off and wrinkle down. When this is the 
fault, the remedy, of course, is to enlarge the sleeve-hole. 
When sleeve-holes are found too tight, cut them away first in 
front and under the arms, and then round them off nicely at the 
back. If left too tight when the lining is cut out, they will 
not be any looser when the dress is finished ; as the ridge made 
by the seam in putting in the sleeve, always fills up whatever 
space is allowed for the sewing. When the fitting of the lining 
is finished, do not, after stitching them down, trim off the inside 
folds of the large pleats, but allow them to remain uncut : in 
case it should, at any time, be found necessary to let them out 
for the purpose of enlarging the body. They can be made to 
lie perfectly flat, by felling down the folded edge on the inside. 
In making the fore-body of a dress, the silk or other material 
that constitutes the outside, should always be cut precisely bias ; 
otherwise, neither the pleats or gathers, nor indeed any part ofj 
the front can set well. To do this, fold one corner quite sharp, 
and make the middle of the fold lie exactly even. If the silk 
is not wide enough for z. perfect bias, join it at the selvage to 
another selvage piece running just the same w.iy. An imper- 
fect bias causes the pleats to twist or warp, and Ine wliole to 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 413 

go wrong and unevenly. In cutting the outside of the fore- 
body, see that there is amply sufficient, l)oth in length and 
breadth, for all the pleats or gathers ; allowing it wider con- 
siderably at the top than at the bottom. If the dress is of a 
material that is to be washed, the upper part of the fulness 
should be gathered ; as loose bias pleats ca«»ot be ironed to 
look well, or even tolerably ; the lower part of a gathered front 
may be stitched closely down. Wherever there are gathers 
on a dress,..make them small, and stroke them as neatly as in 
making up linen. The pleats should be laid smooth and even, 
so that no part of them may twist or stand off even in the smallest 
degree. Baste or run them down to the lining, concealing the 
stitches of each pleat under the pleat that falls over it. If there 
is to be wadding at the bosom, you may insert it between the 
lining and the outside, before you cord the neck. But the best 
way is to put it on after the body is finished. To do this, cut 
ottt two circular pieces of wadding, of sufficient size ; lay on 
each of them another round piece about an inch smaller in 
circumference ; upon that put a third, fourth, fifth, and sixth 
round piece, each diminishing in size, till the last is no larger 
than a cent. Baste each of these piles of wadding upon a 
circular piece of white glazed muslin ; notching the edges of 
^.he muslin, and turning them in. Then sew them to the lining 
of the body, so as to have the wadded pieces next the corset, 
and not between the lining and the outside. 

In stitching down the lower part of the pleats, (where they 
diminish in width towards the waist,) make a second row of 
Btitching on the extreme edge of each. A fore-body to set off 
the figure, should fan very much ; the pleats or gathers spread ^ 
mg full above, so as to give breadth to the chest, and narrowing 
into a very small compass at the bottom of the waist, where 
they meet in the centre. The space on each side of the pleats 

35* 



414 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

should set perfectly smooth to the waist, and be quite free froin 
wrinkles. 

The outside of the back must be cut straightway of the stuff 
like the lining. For a full back, (they are sometimes in 
fashion,) the lining must be tight ; but the outside must be cut 
large enough tqn^allow of gathers at the lower part and shoul- 
ders. A fall back gathered into the middle of the neck rarely 
sets well ; the gathers should fan from the shoulders down to 
the waist. Great care must be taken in making ^ full back, 
not to let it puff out in the middle ; a most disfiguring fault, 
and one to which full-backed dresses are very liable. The 
gathers should be small and nicely stroked. If the back is 
gathered, the sleeves and skirt should be gathered also. 

It is now usual to have no seams in the backs of dresses, 
except under the arms ; but some persons still prefer having 
the form or shape designated by two narrow bias folds, begin- 
ning just below the middle of the back part of the sleeve-hole, 
and descending to the waist, where at their termination, the 
space between diminishes to about half a finger in width. 
These narrow bias folds are finished with a cording. To put 
them on, baste them down on the back of the dress after it has 
been lined, giving them a slight curve, and then sew them on 
with the lining next to you ; keeping the needle and thread on 
the lining side, and catching the under part of the bias fold as 
you take the stitches through. 

A cording must be let in at the shoulder where the back is 
joined to the fore-body. 

In putting whalebones into the body of a dress, use none tha/ 
are not perfectly straight and even ; if in the least crooked, 
they will cause a drawing or puckering of the outside. It if 
usual to have a whalebone up the middle of the front ; one, or 
perhaps two, at each side of the fore-body running in the same 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 415 

direction as the large pleats in the lining, and extending up as 
far as the bosom, but not over it. Also a whalebone at each 
of the side-seams under the arms, and up the outer edges of 
the back, whsre the hooks and eyes are. It is not a good way 
to run in the whalebenes between the lining and the outside of the 
dress, as their ends very soon wear through the outside. Make 
a case for each whalebone, by sewing a piece of strong twilled 
tape upon the body-lining. Then slip in the whalebone, and 
secure it well at the ends. Finish the lower part of the body, 
with a cording felled down on the inside ; and do the neck in 
the same manner. It must also be corded and faced up both 
sides of the back. Merino and mousseline de laine dresses 
must be corded with thick silk, as the worsted stuff is too 
clumsy, and besides will soon fray off. Velvet and satin also, 
must have silk cording. If you cannot match the dress exactly 
with the proper shade of silk for cording, get the cording-silk 
a little darker rather than lighter. So also the sewing silk. 

The covering for cord should be cut into long slips, all of 
them exactly bias; otherwise, it will pucker and not set 
smoothly when sewed on. "Where it is necessary to join the 
covering, fold in the end, and lay the piece neatly over the end 
of the piece that you have last put on the cord. Never use 
black cotton cord, except for black silk dresses. If you put it 
in a mourning chintz, as soon as it is washed the black cotton 
dye will come through the covering of the cord, and run in 
streaks about that part of the dress, so as to spoil it irrecover- 
ably. For a corded facing, cut the covering considerably 
broader, and sew in the cord nearer to one edge than to the 
other, felling down the broad part upon the inside. When you 
sew on cording, ho? d the dress next to you, and take the switches 
very short, and close, and quite through. Silk that is bought 
tor cording, must be very stout ; otherwise, it will soon wear 



116 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

off, the cording being- generally the first thing about the dress 
that requires renewing. After cutting out a dress, take care 
of all the shapings or scraps, however small, as they may 
afterwards come into use for cording and other purposes. 

Where the body of a dress is open at -the back, each side 
should have a facing at least an inch deep, felled down upon 
the lining. 

In plaid silk or gingham, take care that all the checkers are 
made to match exactly, otherwise the effect will be very bad. 
Wherever there is a join, it is better to cut off a portion from 
one piece or the other, than to allow the checks to come wrong. 
A perpendicular stripe of the checker should always go directly 
up the middle of the back, and the cross stripes should be made 
to match precisely. The same accuracy is to be observed in 
making a dress of a striped material. 

In sewing on hooks and eyes, use very strong silk, and put 
the hooks on the right side and the eyes on the left. For the 
sleeves, they should be of the very smallest size. If, instead 
of eyes, you work little loops in button-hole stitch, make them 
very strong, or they will soon wear out and break. The hooks 
must be sewed on the inside or lining ; the eyes, or loops, on 
the outside. Never use sewing silk lighter than the dress. 

THE SLEEVES OF A DRESS.—After you have fitted 
the body-lining, take the measure for the sleeves by means of 
a piece of tape from the arm-pit to the wrist, allowing a little 
extra length as it will take, up in sewing. If the sleeve is too 
short on the inside of the arm, it will give a very awkward 
appearance to the wrist, exposing it bare whenever the arm is 
in the least extended, besides feeling most uncomfortably. 
We have seen sleeves in which this defect (shortness of the 
mder side) wafe so great, that after the dress was on it was 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 417 

impossible to raise the hand higher than the waist, the arma 
appearing as if skewered down to the sides. The remedy, 
when the sleeve is too short, is to put an addition to the cuff 
at the wrist ; or else to take out the sleeve at the shoulder, rip 
it down the seam for about half a yard, and then cut a piece 
from each side, which (though making the upper part of the 
sleeve narrower) will add something to its length, under the 
arm, when it is set in again. If the design of the sleeve will 
permit, it is perhaps best to increase its length by adding a 
cuff to the bottom, concealing the join under a band. 

IF you wish the sleeve to set off very much from the elbow, cut 
it very long on the top of the shoulder, and give it a great curve 
along the inside of the arm. On the contrary, if you desire 
that it should hang straight, give the inside but very little slope. 

In cutting out sleeves, fold over the material into an exact 
bias ; and if not wide enough at the top, cut a piece to join on, 
making both selvages come together. This seam or join had 
best go at the back of the sleeve. When the material is very 
narrow, it is necessary to join the upper part of the sleeves 
both at the back and front. That side of a bias sleeve where 
the threads run straight-way, must be put front, or next the 
fore-body ; the cross-way side must go next the back : this is 
very important to the set of the sleeve. The top or shoulder 
part must be rounded at the back, and hollowed a little at the 
front, where it is sewed into the sleeve-hole. The linings 
should be cut out with the sleeves, and exactly of the same 
size and form. Coloured linings (unless of silk) are apt to 
rub off on the arm. White paper muslin, as it is called, is the 
best for sleeve-linings of a dress that is not to be washed. Foi 
a dress that may be washed, it is better that the linings should 
be separate from the sleeves, making them of cheap white 
cambric muslin. Gather these extra linings at the top into a 



418 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

band, and at the bottom into a wrist-band : they must not be 
so long as to appear at the slit of the lower part of the outer 
sleeve. Each of these sleeve-linings should have four tape 
strings sewed at equal distances to the binding at the top, to 
be tied to corresponding strings sewed inside of the arm-hole 
of the dress. Separate sleeve-linings are very convenient for 
any description of dresses, as they can be worn or not, accord- 
ing to the temperature of the weather, and can also be washed 
when soiled. If a permanent lining is put into any part, of a 
sleeve that is to be washed, it must on no account be of a 
coloured material, as, in washing, the colour will run through 
to the outside. 

After the sleeves of a dress are cut out, the pleats, gathers, 
bands, straps, &c., must all be made and put on before the 
seams are sewed up ; otherwise it will be impossible to get 
any of those decorations even ; besides that it is much easier 
to do them when the sleeve is spread out flat, than after its 
sides are closed up. Where the slit or opening comes at the 
wrist, put on each side a broad facing, felled down upon the 
lining, no part of which ought by any chance to be apparent 
when the dress is on. Make the pleats or gathers very even 
and regular, and baste or run them down under the bands. If 
there are no bands, close-stitch the pleats as neatly as possi- 
ble. If there are bias folds as sleeve-trimmings, let the strips 
of which they are made be cut an exact bias ; and in sewing 
them on to the cord by which they are finished, hold the folded 
piece rather loose or easy, and see that you do not get it twisted 
or warped in the slightest degree, otherwise it will look very 
badly. When all the rest of the sleeve is finished, baste a 
cording all along one side, and then hold the edge of the other 
side even with it, and run them both together with close short 
Btitches, going as near the cord as possible. In setting in 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING 419 

the sleeves, baste a cord all round the arm-hole, beginning and 
finishing at the side-seam under the arm ; then close-stitch the 
sleeve all round, leaving the cord to appear as a finish on, the 
outside If you afterwards find the sleeve too long on the 
inside of the arm, open a few inches of the seam about the 
hend of the elbow, remove a piece of the cording, and join it 
again neatly over a few little pleats or gathers. This will draw 
up and shorten the sleeve without being noticed. Allow tne 
sleeves full large at the wrists ; for if too tight, they will not 
only feel uncomfortably, but cause the hands to swell and 
look red. 

You may occasionally wear white sleeves with a silk dress, 
by having the silk sleeves so made as to be taken out and 
replaced at pleasure. To do this, have the arm-hole finished 
with a cord and facing,, felled down on the lining ; and the top 
of the sleeve finished in the same manner with another cord 
and facing. In putting in the sleeve, do not back-stitch it, but 
secure it only with close running in small stitches, so that it 
can be easily taken out for the purpose of putting in a white 
sleeve finished at the top in the same manner. Another way 
is, to have at the shoulder a sort of epaulet or shoulder-cuff 
of the silk, sewed in permanently to the aim-hole, and orna- 
mented with pleats, bands, folds, or whatever yoa choose. 
Under this shoulder-cuff you can put in either the long silk 
sleeve, made somewhat narrower than usual at the top, or a 
white sleeve also narrowed at the top. When thin white 
sleeves are worn, they should have a short under sleeve, either 
of fine cambric muslin or of white silk. White sleeves witli 
dark dresses are almost universally becoming, and in summer 
are very cool, and in no danger of staining with the heat, as is 
the case with silk sleeves. They should always, however, 
be made of a thin material. 



420 THEHOUSEBOOK. 

There should be gathers only, and no pleating about the 
sleeves of any muslin, chintz, or gingham dress; as, when 
washed and ironed, pleats always get out of shape at the folded 
edge, and look' badly. If any part of a dress is too tight before 
it is washed, it wdll be still tighter afterwards, as being in 
wacfer never fails to shrink it. It is well to shrink the cotton 
cord by scalding it before it is used. 

All coloured dresses, unless the ground is white, should be 
sewed with silk, and not with cotton. 

Belts and their linings must be made cross-way of the stuff. 
If intended to wash, it is best not to cord them at the edges, 
but to fell down the outside over the lining. Between the 
outside and the lining there should be a very stout stiffening 
i>f thick white buckram. Cut all three straight by a thread, 
and then baste them together till after the belt is finished. 
Line the flap or end that hooks over, with a piece of the same 
material as the outside. If you cannot find a belt-ribbon 
exactly the colour of your dresSj^get one that is rather of a 
darker than a lisfhter shade. 



THE SKIRT OF A DRESS.— The skirt of a dress will 
not look well unless it is very full and wide ; it should not be 
long enough to touch the ground, nor so short as to show the 
shoe-binding. For a woman of moderate size, a yard and a 
quarter in length will allow something to turn up for a hem ; 
a tall woman may require a yard and a quarter and a half-quarter 
for a skirt with a hem. A dress made of narrow silk, that 
measures but a half yard in width, will require eight breadths 
in the skirt ; but if the material is less than half a yard wide, 
there should be nine breadths. A mousseline de laine, a silk, 
or a satin, of full three-quarters wide, will take six breadths ; 
if but half a yard and half a quarter in width, there must be 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 421 

seven. For a three-quarter chaly, six ; for a merino skirt there 
should be three breadths ; for a double-width bombazine, four. 
A common calico or Scotch gingham should have six breadths; 
a yard-wide painted muslin, five ; and a French chintz and a 
French gingham, five. Of what is called six-quarter white 
muslin, there must be at least four breadths. A large woman 
should wear a very full skirt ; at least five yards wide, if with- 
out flounces. 

A silk, a chaly, or a bombazine will wear much better, and 
keep clean longer, if the skirt is lined all through ; and when 
turned it will look nearly as well as new. The lining should 
be very thin, and may be of coarse book muslin or of papei 
muslin. After the breadths of the outside are all run up, mea- 
sure those of the lining so as to fit exactly, and run them up 
also. Put the lining inside, whip the two raw edges together 
at the top, and baste the lining and outside together along the 
bottom. For the slit behind, at the top of the skirt, hem down 
the outside upon the lining, securingiit well at the termination, 
and taking care to turn in entirely the white selvage edge. Be 
also very particular, in running up the breadths or joining the 
sleeves, to take sufficient hold, so as to prevent even a thread 
of the selvage edge from appearing on the outside of the dress, 
as is frequently the case when seams are put together carelessly. 
It is well to notch with your scissors the selvage all along ; 
otherwise the tightness of its extreme edge will draw up the 
breadths, and cause them to pucker at the seams. In sewing 
together the pieces for a flounce or a frill to a silk dress, cut 
off the selvage entirely, and whip over the seams ; for if the 
white edge is left on, it will show at every join. 

If the skirt is pleated at the top, turn down an inch or two 
all along, and fix all the pleats exactly even ; securing them 
for the present with pins, and afterwards basting thera. Leavt> 

36 



422 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

a plain space directly in the front of the fore-breadth. Take 
care not to have a seam on the top of any of the pleats, but fold 
all the seams underneath. The middle of the fore-breadth 
must come exactly to the middle of the fore-body ; and the 
' central gathers of the back-breadth must go precisely to the 
centre of the back-body. As these gathers are to be caught 
up, and not whipped with a drawing thread, they cannot be 
made till after the body is sewed fast to the skirt; but enough 
must be left to make them very full. 

Having basted the body to the skirt, stitch or s^w them 
along closely with a strong silk thread. In doing so, stretch 
the body very tightly, and hold the skirt rather eaoy. Then 
put in the gathers at the back of the skirt, catching them to the 
body as you go along, and securing each in its place with a 
second stitch taken over the first. When they are all in, take 
a large needle and a strong thread with a large knot on its end, 
and run it through the whole of the gathers as they stand in a 
row on the inside, and draw the thread tightly. This will 
keep them compact, and make them set out well. If the skirt 
is not lined all through, put a stifFener into the upper part of 
the two back-breadths, and sew it in with the gathers when 
you are making them, whipping it first to 4;he raw edge of the 
outside. This stifFener may be of a double piece of glazed 
white muslin, about a quarter and half-quarter in length when 
doubled,' and in width the same as that of the two back-breadths, 
unless they are extremely wide. Do not double it exactly in 
half, but leave one of the lower edges a little longer than the 
other. Scollop it all round with your scissors. A mousseline 
de laine, a painted muslin, or any light-coloured or white dress, 
should not have a stifFener sewed in with the gathers, as its 
form will show through. To wear with these dresses, white 
stiffeners maybe sewed in with the gathers of white petticoats. 



HINTS ON DRESS -MAKING. 423 

Before the sleeves are set in permanently, and the body 
sewed fast to the skirt, it is well, after all is basted, to try on 
the dress. The exact length proper for the skirt may then be 
ascertained, and the hem turned up with pins. A silk skirt 
will hang much better for having an even strip of wadding laid 
in the hem at the bottom, provided there is a lining inside ; 
otherwise, when the lower edge of the hem begins to wear off, 
the wadding will poke through. The three back-breadths of 
a velvet skirt should be lined and wadded all through, which 
will prevent the velvet from creasing and wearing in streaks. 
When the edge of a silk hem is worn off, bind it with stout 
ribbon of the same colour : or with a new piece of the silk, cut 
bias. If the skirt is found to be too long, rip the hem and turn 
it up broader ; or a tuck laid all along the lining near the bot- 
tom of the skirt, will shorten it. The hem should be merely 
run, that the thread may easily be drawn out, if necessary. 

Some persons who do not wish to have their skirts lined all 
through, line only the two back-breadths, that they may set out 
ivell. Of course, no skirt should be lined if it is of a inaterial 
that is to be washed. » 

If, instead of pleating the skirt, you gather it at the waist, 
/ou may whip the gathers and draw them with a thread, except 
.ust behind ; and there you must make catch-gathers, as in a 
j^leated skirt. It is sometimes customary to gage a gathered 
skirt ; that is, to make a second row of gathers about an inch 
.6elow the first, securing them in their place by running them 
on to a tape basted beneath on the inside. If the sleeves are 
gathered below the shoulder or above the wrist, sew down the 
gathers also upon tape basted beneath. This will strengthen 
them, and keep that part of the sleeve in shape. 

To wear with a clear muslin, or any other transparent mate- 
rial, it is necessary to have an under-dress made at the same 



424 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

time, and to fit exactly beneath the upper dress. The sleeves 
should be short, and the body perfectly plain. Fine white linen 
or lawn under-dresses, have now superseded those of white 
silk, and being much whiter are far more becoming. We 
have seen under-dresses of a skirt only, sewed at the waist to 
the inside of the thin upper-diess, before it was put on. This 
is sufficient with the lining of the body and the short sleeve 
lining. To very young girls, no dress is more becoming than 
a clear muslin. In buying one, see that ithas not a blueish cast. 
Ladies who have sense and courage to resist the pernicious 
but almost universal custom of wearing long corsets with 
busks and whalebones, may make their figures look extremely 
well, by a very simple method which cannot possibly interfere 
either with their comfort or their health. It is to buy or be- 
speak corsets made in the usual manner, yet not so tight but 
that the backs can be brought, to meet with perfect ease. After 
the corsets come home, draw out the busk and all the bones, 
except the two that go up the back next to the eyelet-holes ; 
and which, when they lie flat in the hollow between the shoul- 
ders, are not felt ]py the wearer. After the bones are withdrawn, 
cut off the lower part of the corsets all round, allowing them 
just long enough to reach about a few inches below the waist 
of your longest-bodied dress. Then bind the bottom with 
twilled tape. Worn in this manner, short, and w;ithout a busk 
or any bones except two up the back, the corsets will feel very 
comfortably, and can in no way affect the health ; while the 
figure will look so well that few persons will perceive that 
the corsets are not exactly in the usual mode. It is the busk 
in front, and the bones compressing the waist all round, (united 
with improperly tight lacing,) that do the injury; and cause in 
so many instances, diseases which embitter the lives of onr 
young females, even if they do not eventually destroy them. 



HINTS ON DRESS-MAKING. 425 

If the neck of your dress is cut down into a point in front. 
Or is made surplice, have what is termed a modesty-piece, to 
pin on the front of your corsets. These may be made of cam- 
bric or fine lawn, and trimmed at the top with insertion and 
lace. Their form is triangular, and the top or broad part should 
be cut somewhat of a semicircle, highest in the middle, and 
roundinsf off towards the corners. 



A GOWN-DRESS. — A gown-dress, to fasten in front, with- 
out the assistance of" another person, is, on that account, ex- 
tremely convenient, and can be made in such a manner that it 
may easily be mistaken for a frock. Instead of being open 
behind, let the back of the body be made entirely in one piece, 
with a corded bias fold put on up the middle of the back, to 
look as if it covered a row of fastenings. The fore-body must 
be made to open in the middle, each side finished with a cord- 
ing and a whalebone ; a row of hooks being sewed on the inside 
of the right, and a row of eyes on the right-side of the left. 
These divided fore-bodies set better if the neck is made to 
meet in a point directly in front just above the corset-busk, and 
retiring back towards the shoulders. In this case, the two 
sides of the neck must be cut straight by a thread, which will 
give the proper slope when the dress is on. If these dresses 
are not worn with a pelerine or a deep collar outside, they 
should have a close-fitting under handkerchief beneath. 

In the skirt of a gown dress, two breadths must meet in 
front; joining them perpendicularly with a fold or tuck, and 
leaving at the top a slit about a quarter of a yard in length. 
One side of this slit will be formed by this tnck, the other 
will be finished by a narrow hem, to which should be sewed 
a straight slip of the material to go under the tuck-side ; other- 
wise the slit will gape, and show the petticoat beneath. It 



426 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

is well to continue this straight slip or under-piece all the way 
up to the neck of the dress, sewing it along the edge of the 
body, on the side where the eyes are placed. The pocket- 
holes should also have slips sewed along beneath one side of 
their hem, otherwise they may gape open. The gathers or 
pleats on the two front breadths of the skirt should extend 
out to the utmost extreme edge of each of the two halves or 
fronts of the forebody. 

Inside the lower part of the back of a gown dress, where it 
is joined to the skirt, tack, with strong silk, a piece of twilled 
tape long enough to be brought round and tied beneath the 
front. Sew the tape fast in three places ; the centre and the 
side-seams. Tying this string when you put on the dress 
will draw it in at the waist, and make it sit closer. 

If the fore-body of a dress, whether gown or frock, has been 
found, when finished, to be too tight across the chest, (a 
very bad fault,) and there is no outlet, the best remedy is to 
Set a piece up the front, from the waist to the neck. For a 
gown-body, there must be two pieces, one on each side, both 
cut bias, finished with cording, and made to look as smooth 
and well as possible. A frock body must be split up, and a 
bias piece inserted, handsomely finished at the seams where 
it is sewed in. If the tightness or narrowness across the 
bosom is excessive, the piece you set in may be cut some- 
what in the form of a gore, widening towards the top. This 
gore may be ornamented with either silk cord laced across ; 
handsome buttons or frogs ; piping, &c. ; or it may be laid in 
small, flat, horizontal pleats or gathers, going across. 



PELERINES. — In making a pelerine, fold the material in 
half, and cut it double. The back must be the straightway of 



HINTS ON DRESS-BIAKING. 427 

the stuff, so as to make it come bias at the shoulders ; other- 
wise, the back of the pelerine will hang off behind, and its 
shoulders will have an awkward draw. Take care to g-ive it 
a sufRcient curve in front, down towards the corners. If there 
- is not curve enough, it will hang forward and look badly. If 
the stuff is not wide enough to cut the pelerine all in one, take 
a breadth for each half, and make a straight seam up the back. 
Line it with silk or with paper muslin, and have the trimming 
on the edge broad enough to prevent any part of the lining from 
shewing. If you trim it with folds, cut all the strips of an 
exact bias, and join them neatly : seeing that the threads of 
both ends go one way at the joining places. Sew first a covered 
cord all round the edge of the pelerine, and then sew on the 
fold, holding it next you. You may either put on both edges 
of the fold at once, or do first one and then the other. The 
fold should be held easy all along, and particularly so over the 
shoulders or it will hoop. Be very careful to put it on perfectly 
smooth and even, as a fold twisted and warped looks very badly. 
This will certainly be the case, if it is not an exact bias all 
along, or if it is stretched the least in sewing on. 

The trimming of a pelerine should always be made to 
diminish gradually in width as it approaches the front corners ; 
and near the extremity of the corners, it should be put on quite 
plain for a small distance. Pelerines that are to be washed, 
should have no lining, and no other trimming than a ruflie, 
which, if of muslin or chintz, may be pleated ; or else fluted 
over an Italian iron. However, for a chintz or calico, a double 
fold may be quilled on the edge, to be taken off and washed 
and ironed plain, and afterwards quilled on again. This, of 
course, must be done every time the pelerine is washed. 

In cutting flounces and ruflles, the general rule is to allow 
tjjree times as much in length as the space on which they 



428 THE HOUSE BOOK 

are to be sewed. This will make them sufficiently full fav 
any purpose. 

To make satin piping for a blond pelerine, or for any other 
purpose, cut some satin exactly bias into slips, two, three, or 
four inches wide, according to the size you wish to have the 
piping. It must be cut exactly even, and the pieces joined 
at the ends precisely as the threads run. Then fold or roll it 
over, turning in the last edge, which must be run closely along 
with a needle and thread, seeing that not a single stitch goes 
through, so as to show on the surface of the piping. Then lay 
it on the right side of the pelerine, and run it on the wrong side, 
just catching it through the blond as you go along, and again 
taking care that no stitch goes quite through the whole thick- 
ness of the piping. 

All bows made of silk, should be finished with a bias bind- 
ing of the same. 

In making a pelerine with pleats down the front, the pleats 
must lie the straightway of the stuff, and not bias. If a muslin 
pelerine is made with bias pleats, they will wash and iron to 
great disadvantage, and look very badly ; unless the pelerine 
is taken apart, and all the pleats are let out before washing, 
putting them in anew after ironing. 

To cut trimmings of a good bias, use strips of pasteboard. 
You should have several of these strips, each of a different 
length or width. In length they should suit the width of the 
silk or other material. To have them perfectly even, mark 
them first with a pencil and a ruler. Then cut them apart. 
Lay the silk eater-corner ; tack the pasteboard slip upon it, 
and then cut out the bias strips of silk exactly the width of 
the paste-board, which will be found a good guide. All trim- 
mings of an uneven or imperfect bias are sure, when served 
on, to warp, and pucker, and look badly. 4 



APPENDIX. 



WASHING MIXTURE.— Mix together, in a pitcher, a 
pint of camphine, and a pint of spirits of turpentine, adding 
two ounces of spirits of hartshorn. When well stirred, put 
it into two very clean black bottles. Cork them tightly, and 
shake them hard. Then put them away for use. The cost 
of this quantity will be about thirty-seven cents. 

On washing-day, fill your wash-kettle or boiler with cold, 
soft water, and stir in a portion of the mixture, allowing a 
large table-spoonful to each gallon of water, and put it on to 
boil. When it has boiled, pour it into a large tub, and stir 
in a pint of soft soap, or half a pound of hard soap, cut up, 
making a strong lather. Into this, put as many of the 
cleanest wJdte doilies as it will conveniently hold, (rubbing 
the dirtiest places a little,) and let them soak twenty-five 
minutes or near a half an hour. Afterwards, wring them 
out ; and put them on to boil, in fresh water. Then put 
into the first tub, the next dirtiest clothes, soaping and 
rubbing only the places that are most soiled, and afterwards 
put tliem on to boil. The same water that has boiled the 
others will do for them. Coloured clothes may be washed in 
the water that the white clothes have been boiled in, but 
must on no account be soaked themselves, or boiled. They 

must -be well rinsed in two cold waters, with a table-spoon- 

429 



430 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

ful of vinegar in each water to set the colours ; and -wrung 
Dut immediately, and dried fast. 

The white clothes must also be well rinsed through two 
waters ; a very little blue from the indigo-bag may be 
squeezed into the last. 

This mixture will not do for washing flannels, or other 
woollens ; they must be done in the ilsual way. But for 
all articles of linen or cotton, it saves much labour ; re- 
quiring so little rubbing, and making the clothes v«ry white 
without injuring them. It leaves no smell of turpentine or 
camphine. 

This composition, mixed with a lather of warm water and 
white soap, is excellent for cleaning silver. Put it on with 
a soft rag, and let it remain on the silver ten minutes or 
more. Then wipe it off, and polish with buckskin. 



WASHING WITH SODA SOAP.— Mix together two 
pounds of soda, and four pounds of the best brown soap 
cut up small, and add two jills of spirits of turpentine. 
Put them into a kettle with ten quarts (two gallons 
and a half) of water, and boil them together for two hours. 
When cool, it becomes white and hard. Put it away in a 
covered box. In using it for washing clothes, allow one 
pint of the soap to two buckets of hot water. Make a 
lather of it in a large tub, and put in the white clothes. 
They will require but little rubbing, and no soaking. Then 
rinse them well and wring them out, and boil them a short 
time in clear, pure water. Afterwards, rinse them through 
two cold waters, with a very little indigo blue in the last. 

Soda soap will not do for coloured things — and care must 
be taken not to use too much of it, as it will then injure the 
clothes. 



APPENDIX. 431 

TO WASH SILKS, RIBBONS, &c.— Mix together in a 
pitcher or bowl, one quart of white brandy, three quarters 
of a pound of strained honey, one quarter of a pound of very 
good soft soap, and a small half-pint of gin. Set the mix- 
ture near the fire, or in the sun ; and stir it frequently, tiU 
it is thoroughly mixed ; but do not let it get hot. It must 
be warm only. 

To use it. Rub the article to be cleaned, with a brush dipped 
in the above mixture, till all the dirt and stains are removed. 
Then squeeze the silk or ribbon, first, through a pan of clear 
cold river-water or rain-water. Afterwards, squeeze it 
through spring, or pump-water. Dry it in a clean towel, by 
gently clapping it. It must on no account be wrung. When 
it is what is called ironing-dry, have heated irons ready to 
smooth it immediately. Spread a linen cloth over the iron- 
ing blanket. Try the iron first, upon som^ething else: as, 
if too hot, it will scorch and discolour the silk, and will give 
a dull bluish tint to green, and a bad purplish tint to pink ; 
also turning black into a dingy brown. If the iron is of the 
proper heat, no colour will be injured by it. 

Bottle this mixture, corking it very closely, and tying a 
leather over the cork. It will then keep for a long time. As 
it becomes thick by standing, it is well always to add a little 
more brandy to what you pour out for immediate use. 



DOMESTIC SOAP.— To every gaUon of lye (which must 
be strong enough to bear up an egg on its surface) put three 
quarters of a pound of lard or tallow. Before using any 
kitchen fat for soap, the fat must be well boiled in a large 
quantity of water, to take out the salt, which, if left in, wiU 
prevent its incorporating with the lye. 

Having put the above proportion of fat into the lye, 



432 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

boll it briskly, and stir it frequently. When the mixture is 
well amalgamated, and no grease remains on. the surface, stir 
in one pint of salt to every two gallons of the soft soap. Let 
it boil ten minutes longer. Then put it into tubs and set it 
to cool. Next day, cut it out of the tubs, transfer it to a 
clean kettle, set it again over the fire, and again boil it long 
enough to render it liquid. This second boiling will take 
out all the lye, and the soap will not shrink in hardening. 
Afterwards cool it in tubs, as before ; and when quite hard 
cut it into squares or bars. 

If you use cracklings, put in one pound of them to each 
gallon of lye. 

DOMESTIC STARCH.— Put a tub two-thirds fuU of wheat 
bran, and then fill it up with water. Let it stand till it fer- 
ments or works. In warm weather it will generally ferment 
in twenty-four hours. Afterwards, run it through a coarse 
sieve, (squeezing and pressing it well,) and then strain the 
liquid through a clean, coarse cloth. Put this liquid into 
an earthen or white-ware vessel, about half full ; and fill it 
up with water. "When it has settled, pour off the water, 
gently, from the sediment, and carefully put on fresh water. 
Repeat this process twice a-day, tiU you see by the white- 
ness and purity of the sediment that it will be clean, good 
starch. Spread it out on broad dishes, and set it in the sun 
to dry. When quite dry, put it in ajar, and keep it closely 
covered. 



PRESERVING THE COLOURS OF DRESSES.— The 
colours of merinos, mousseline de laines, ginghams, chintzes, 
'>rinted lawns, &c., may be preserved by using water that is 
only milk-warm ; making a lather with white soap, before 



APPENDIX. 433 

you put in the dress, instead of rubbing it on the material ; 
and stirring into a first and second tub of water, a large 
table-spoonful of ox-gall. The gall can be obtained from the 
butcher, and a bottle of it should always be kept in every 
house. No coloured articles should be allowed to remain 
long in the water. They must be washed fast, and then 
rinsed through two cold waters. Into each rinsing water, 
stir a tea-spoonful of vinegar, which will help to brighten 
the colours ; and after rinsing, hang them out immedi- 
ately. When ironing-dry, (or still a little damp,) bring them 
in; have irons ready heated, and iron them at once, as it 
injures the colours to allow them to remain damp too long, 
or to sprinkle and roll them up in a covering for ironing 
next day. If they cannot be conveniently ironed immedi- 
ately, let them hang till they are qidte dry ; and then damp 
and fold them on the following day, a quarter of an hour 
before ironing. The best way is not to do coloured dresses 
on the day of the general wash, but to give them a morning 
by themselves. They should only be undertaken in clear 
bright weather. If allowed to freeze, the colours will be 
irreparably injured. We need scarcely say that no coloured 
articles should ever be boiled or scalded. 

If you get from a shop a slip for testing the durability 
of colours, give it a fair trial by washing it as above ; after- 
wards, pinning it to the edge of a towel, and hanging it to dry. 
Some colours, (especially pinks and light-greens,) though they 
may stand perfectly well in washing, will change as soon as a 
warm iron is applied to them ; the pink turning purplish, 
and the green bluish. No coloured article should be smoothed 
with a hot iron. 



37 



434 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

TO USE A GAUFFERING IRON.— These instruments 
are to be bought at the hardware stores. They resemble a 
long pair of curling-tongs, but have three points ; and one 
handle is shorter than the other. They generally cost from 
seventy-five cents to a dollar. Frencli gaufiering is done 
with a complicated brass machine, which sells at five or six 
dollars, and may be used for very broad frills. The common 
gaufi'ering-iron is only for narrow frills, edgings, &c. These 
frills must, of course, be starched and damped before gauffer- 
ing. In heating the iron, you must hold the points just over 
the fire, and on no account stick them into it, as that will 
smoke and roughen them, and spoil the frill, injuring the in- 
strument also. When of the right heat, take a portion of the 
ruffle between the three points of the iron, and squeeze it 
firmly. Proceed thus, till you have done about a quarter 
of a yard of gauffering ; then heat the iron again. The frill 
will retain the fluting as long as it is clean enough to wear. 

French gauffering is generally imported ready done ; and 
when broad gauffered frills are wanted, it is best to buy 
thorn so. The brass machine is generally considered too 
expensive for a private family, or for a small laundry-esta- 
Dlishment. But the above gauffering-iron is comparatively 
cheap and easy to manage — and greatly improves narrow 
trimmings of muslin or lace. 



TO REMOVE THE DOWN OR FUZZ OF WADDING.— 

In turning a merino cloak or pelisse that has been wadded 
without an interlining, particles of the wadding will adhere 
to the inside of the merino, like a thin, transparent covering 
of down. It is impossible to got this entirely off by brushing 
in the visual way ; and even washing will not remove it. The 
best method, (and one that is unfailing,) is as follows. After 



APPENDIX. 435 

the breadths of the merino are all ripped apart, spread them 
out one at a time, (wrong side uppermost,) on a large iron- 
ing table, or on a clean floor. Have ready a pan of clean 
sand made very damp with water. Spread a layer of this 
sand evenly aU over the merino. Let it rest about ten 
minutes ; then brush it off. Afterwards, brush the merino 
hard with a broom-corn whisk. All traces of wadding will 
disappear. Let the merino be damped, and ironed smoothly, 
before it is again made up. 

To avoid any of this trouble with the wadding, it is best, 
in making up a merino cloak or coat, to baste a very thin 
interlining of muslin upon the wadding, to go between it and 
the outside. This interlining should be white or whitish. 
If coloured, the dye of the muslin may come through and 
stain the outside, if the garment chances to get wet. A 
good interlining (and cheaper than any other) is thin un- 
bleached domestic muslin, which is to be had at a few cents 
a yard. It has been manufactured as low as three cents. 
It is well to get this muslin by the piece ; keeping some al- 
ways in the house. The cost is very trifling, and it will be 
found useful for many things. It is very strong, even when 
thin. 



A PAPER FLOOE-COYERING FOR BED-ROOMS.— The 

floor having been well swept, and scrubbed clean, let its 
measure be exactly taken. Buy a sufficiency of good, strong 
wall-paper, as handsome as you please, but with no white in 
it. All the furniture being removed from the room, have 
some strong paste made of rye-meal boiled with water. 
Spread it on with a brush, and paste the paper smoothly 
over the floor; seeing that in all the breadths the pattern 
matches exactly. You may add to it, all round the room, 



436 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

next the wall, and around the hearth, a handsome, rich paper- 
bordering. Next day, after the pasting is thoroughly dried, 
go all over the paper with a coat of varnish. The next day, 
with another coat ; and next day with a third. Meanwhile, 
keep the doors and windows closed, so that no dust may 
stick to the varnish while drying. During the whole pro- 
cess of pasting and varnishing, the room should be locked 
up. At the end of a week, you may bring back the furni- 
ture. 

This mode of covering bed-room or .library floors is now 
very customary in the south. It is much cooler than carpet 
ing ; cheaper than oil-cloth ; easily swept ; and if the papei 
is thick and good, will last three or four years. To renew it, 
you may either paste it over with a fresh paper, or (what is 
better) take the old paper entirely off, by wetting it 
thoroughly with a swab or mop, dipped in hot water, and 
then loosening and peeling it ; afterwards, scrubbing the 
floor. 

We highly recommend this floor-covering. Try it. 



BALL-ROOM FLOORS.— In preparing a floor for dancing, 
avoid using any sort of coloured chalk. It rubs off on the 
white satin shoes of the ladies, and spoils them immediately 
■ — ruining also the hems of their dresses. The chalk for ball- 
room floors should always be white. 

For a private ball, it is a very good way, after the carpel 
is removed, and the floor scrubbed and dry, to tack down all 
over it, a temporary covering of wall-paper — not varnished. 

Or a room for dancing may be covered with new ticking 
nailed down. 



APPENDIX. 437 

A GOOD KITCHEN OIL CLOTIL— In the spring, or 
very early in the summer, take an old thread-bare Brussels 
carpet that has been well shaken and beaten, so that no 
dust remains about it. Send it to a coach-painter, and en- 
gage him to paint it all over (on the wrong side) of one 
colour, blue, red, brown, or gray. When it is painted, he 
will spread it out and dry it properly ; so that by autumn 
it will be well-seasoned, and fit for use. It is an excellent 
covering for a kitchen floor ; far better than a rag-carpet, as 
it will imbibe no grease, and collect no dust, is easily swept, 
and requires no other cleaning than washing over with a 
wet cloth. There is no better way of turning to good ^iccount 
an old Brussels carpet-. If you have one, try it. 

Country people sometimes convert an old carpet into an 
oil-cloth, by selecting the best parts, and sewing them to- 
gether, so as to form a large square or oblong. This is then 
stretched tightly, and nailed to the side of a frame barn or 
stable, and then painted over with two or three coats of 
paint. It is kept thus, drying and seasoning, for several 
months — the longer the better. It then makes a good cover- 
ing for the kitchen floor. 

A BARREL CHAIR. — Take a clean, empty flour-barrel ; 
and if there is no man in the house who can do it, employ a 
carpenter to prepare it for making a substitute chair-frame. 
The top being removed, he must cut down one half of the 
barrel to about the height of fourteen inches (or a quarter 
and half quarter of a yard) from the ground ; so as to form 
the front of the chair ; leaving the remainder standing its 
full height to represent the back, but sloping the sides gra- 
dually down to the front, like the arms of some sofas. The 

staves must be well secured, so that they may not ^U apart. 

37* 



438 THE'HOUSE BOOK. 

Next, a sufficiency of strong girthing (such as is used by 
the saddlers) must be nailed on so as to interlace like lattice- 
work, and form a bottom for the chair. Four castors should 
be put on to make it move easily. The wood-work may 
then be painted of any colour you please. "When it is per- 
fectly dry, proceed to finish the chair, making a stuffed back 
with sides ; and a cushion for the seat. To this purpose, 
you may devote an old comfortable or thick bed-quilt. What- 
ever may be used for the cushions, there should be no stuffing 
with moss, as that will make it hard and dusty ; but employ 
either cotton, or wool, or hair, or bed-feathers. When the 
cushions, &c., are made, and finished with a strong binding 
all round, nail them, smoothly and firmly, on to the frame 
of the chair. Then make a cover for the whole, of furniture- 
chintz, with a deep valence ail round. These chairs cost 
but little, and are vei'y comfortable and convenient for bed- 
rooms, and may be constructed entirely by the family. They 
are always made as loio cJiairs. 



TO REMOVE BLACK STAINS FROM THE SKIN.— 

.Ladies that wear mourning in warm weather are much in- 
commoded by the blackness it leaves on the arms and neck ; 
and which cannot easily be removed, even by soap and warm 
water. To have a remedy always at hand, keep in the 
drawer of your wash-stand a box or gallicup, containing a 
mixture in equal portions of cream of tartar and oxalic acid. 
Got at a druggist's half an ounce of each of these articles, 
and have them mixed and pounded together in a mortar. 
Put some of this mixture into a gallicup that has a cover, 
and if, afterwards, it becomes hard, you may keep it slightly 
moistened with water. See that it is always closely covered. 
To use it, wet the black stains on your skin with the corner 



APPENDIX. 439 

of a towel, dipped in water, (warm water is best, but is not 
always at hand. Then, with your finger, rub on a little of the 
mixture. Then, immediately wash it off with water, and after- 
wards with soap and water ; and the black stains will be 
visible no lono-er. This mixture will also remove ink, and 
all other stains from the fingers, and from wliite clothes. It 
is more speedy in its effects if applied with warm water. No 
family should be without it; but care must be taken to 
keep it out of the way of young children, as if swallowed, it 
is poisonous. 

Before you send a straw bonnet to be cleaned, wet the 
stains on its surface with warm water ; and then with your 
finger rub on some of this mixture. Repeat this process, 
if the stains do not disappear at the first application ; and it 
will effectually obliterate them. Grease, you may remove 
from a bonnet by rubbing on some camphine. It is best, 
also, to do this before the bonnet is sent to the cleaner. 



TO KEEP YOUE HANDS NICE.— Wash them with 
sand-soap, and immediately afterwards, with fresh water. 
Then, while they are wet, put into the palm of each hand a 
very small portion of rose-cream or almond-cream, (such 
as gentlemen use for shaving, and is to be had of all the per- 
fumers) and rub the cream all over them, 'hard and tho- 
roughly. It forms a strong lather, which will render your 
hands very soft and smooth ; the pores having first been well 
opened by the friction of the sand-soap. In some very fair 
and delicate skins, the sand-soap may, at first, leave an un- 
comfortable irritation, which, however, is generally removed 
by the immediate application of the rose-cream. Otherwise, 
use the rose-cream without the soap. 

Always, after washing your hands, take ^f corner of the 



440 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

wet towel, and rub back (very hard) the skin that surrounds 
your finger-nails, and should never be allowed to encroach 
upon them. Do this, unfailingly, whenever you wash, and 
the surface of your nails will always look well. In cutting 
them, be careful to round ojQF the corners. 

Glycerine, a liquid preparation, to br obtained at the 
druggists, is excellent for the hands, keeping them always 
soft and smooth. After washing your hands in the usual 
manner, pour on their palms four or five drops of glycerine, 
and rub it well into them. So small a portion is required 
for daily use, that a half-dollar bottle of it will last a long 
time. 



TO EXTRACT GREASE WITH CAMPHINE OIL.— 

Grease of the very worst sort, (for instance, whale oil,) may 
be extracted immediately by means of campliine oil, which 
can always be procured from the grocers' or lamp-stores. 
As this oil is the better for being fresh, get but a small 
quantity at a time. It can be used successfully, even for 
the most delicate articles, such as ribbons and other silks. 
Pour some camphine into a clean cup, and dip lightly into 
it a bit of clean, soft, white rag. With this, rub the grease- 
spot. Then take a fresh rag dipped in the camphine, and 
continue rubbing till all the grease is extracted ; which will 
be very soon. You will find the colour of the article unin- 
jured. To remove the turpentine odour of the. camphine, 
rub the place with Cologne water, or strong alcohol, and 
expose it to the open air. By this process, I have removed 
a large spot of whale oil from white satin. 



TO REMOVE A NAIL FROM BENEATH A CARPET. 
—In putting down a carpet, it sometimes happens that a 



APPENDIX. 441 

nail chancing to lie on the floor, is carelessly overlooked, 
and the carpet is tacked down over it. If left there, the 
head of the nail will undoubtedly wear a hole through. To 
reraove the nail without taking up the carpet, or ripping the 
nearest seam to get at it, use a pair of round pointed scissors ; 
hold them firmly, and applying them to the head of the nail, 
where you feel it lying beneath the carpet, slowly and care- 
fully push and work it along till you have shoved it to the 
hearth, or to any part of the room where the edge of the 
carpet comes. As soon as the nail is visible, you can easily 
disengage it with your fingers. 

I have seen this process most successfully tried, with a 
brass-headed nail, on which a small mirror had been sus- 
pended, and which nail had fallen on the floor when the 
glass was taken . down previous to papering the room. It 
was strangely disregarded by the woman that scrubbed the 
floor and the upholsterer's man that put down the new 
carpet ; beneath wliich it remained unperceived till I chanced 
to tread upon it. It was near the centre of the floor. A 
coloured man, a waiter belonging to the house, removed the 
nail in the above manner, without the slightest injury to the 
carpet. 

There are, of course, many other substances which may 
thus be extricated from similar positions. 



TO CLEAN THE RUST FEOM IRON OR STEEL.— 

Scrape ofi" as much of the rust as you can. Then grease the 
iron all over with lamp oil, (any other oil will do,) rubbing 
it in well. Put the iron in a place where it will be out of the 
way, and let it rest for two or three days, or more. Then 
wipe off the oil, as thoroughly as possible, and rub the iron 
with sand-paper till it is perfectly cleaned from the grease^ 



442 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

Sand-paper is to be had, at the hardware-stores, or at the 
stationers', its price is usually two or three cents a sheet. 

For want of oil or sand-paper, rusty iron may be cleaned 
tolerably well by greasing it with a bit of pork-fat, and 
afterwards rubbing it with common sand. 



TO KEEP OFF ANTS.— The little red ants, with which 
so many houses are infested, may be expelled by sprinkling 
Boda (either carbonate or common soda) in the places whore 
they are troublesome — for instance, on closet-shelves or 
around the jars containing sweet things. A broad circle 
of common chalk drawn around these vessels will like- 
wise repel the approach of ants. It will be well also to 
chalk about the floors, and inside the doors of the store- 
closets and side-boards. All alkalies are destructive to 
these insects. 



TO DESTROY RATS AND MICE.— Mix some ground 
plaster of Paris with brown sugar and Indian meal. Set it 
about on old plates, and leave, beside each plate, a saucer or 
pan of water. When the rats have eaten the mixture they will 
drink the water and die. To attract them towards it, you 
may sprinkle on the edges of the plates a little of the oil 
of rhodium. 

In building a house, if the space down behind the wash- 
board, between the lath and plaster and the solid wall, is 
filled in with tin clippings, or old glass broken to bits, it will 
not be infested with rats and mice ; particularly the kitchen, 
cellar, and store-closet, provided that all the rooms are thus 
guarded from their approaches. 

The clippings thrown away as useless at tin-manufactories 
may thus be turned to account. 



APPENDIX. 443 

TO TAKE OUT FRESH INK.— When ink has just been 
spilled, (for instance on a carpet,) it may generally be re- 
moved by immediately taking up as much as possible with a 
spoon ; or, if in a large quantity, with the fire-shovel. Then 
with a pan of cold water and a clean cloth wash the 
place well ; renewing the water and cloth, when necessary, 
till the water is no longer discoloured. If this is done 
ijuickly and well, the mark left on the carpet will be scarcely 
visible ; and all that remains of it will gradually disappear 
after the place is quite dry. 



TO REMOVE GREASE FROM WOOLLEN, &c.— Having 
scraped off with a knife, whatever grease (tallow, or sper- 
maceti for instance) stands on the surface, cover the cloth 
with a smooth piece of clean soft paper, (blotting paper is 
best,) and then press it with a warm iron. The iron must 
not be so hot as to injure the colour. Repeat the process 
(exchanging to a clean part of the paper) till the grease 
has entirely disappeared. 



TO TAKE OUT WAX.— Hold a very hot iron over, but 
not on, the spot, till the wax melts. Then scrape it off. Lay 
a clean blotting paper over the place, and press it with a 
cooler iron till the wax has disappeared. 



TO MAKE SATIN PIPING.— Cut some long slips 
of satin three or four inches broad, and of an exact bias all 
along. Turn both of the raw edges inward, and as evenly as 
possible. Then fold it into a very tight roll, leaving the 
lower edge a little below the roll. Having pinned it to your 
knee or to a brick pincushion, (which is far better, and 
which every lady should have,) run it along closely, dnd 



444 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

with your needle and thxread catching the lower edge, and 
thus confining it to the roll. In sewing this piping to a 
cap, or any other article of dress, take your stitches on the 
wrong side, slightly catching the piping through it. Cap- 
bows should also he sewed on the wrong side. 



TO MAKE A ROULEAU OF RIBBON.— Rouleaus 

of satin ribbon are used for trimming caps and evening 
dresses. To render these rouleaus smooth and even, and 
without any risk of the edges getting loose, and standing 
Dut irregular and unsightly, they should be made over a 
fold of white paper. This paper Diust be a little longer than 
the intended rouleau aiid cut perfectly straight and even, 
and broad enough to be folded several times. The more the 
paper is folded, the rounder and handsomer will be the 
rouleau. If your paper is not long enough, you may 
lengthen it (before it is folded) by sewing or pasting to its 
end an additional slip of paper of the same breadth exactly. 
>Yhen the paper is properly folded, take the ribbon, and with 
a needle and thread tack one end of it to the paper-slip. 
Then roll or wind the ribbon round the paper ; taking care 
not to stretch it too much, as the roll should be short and 
close, and not lengthy and drawn out. When you have 
rolled on as much ribbon as you want, secure its other end 
to the paper-slip, and begin fo baste the rouleau on the cap, 
or dress. Or whatever article you wish to trim with it. You 
must do this basting on the wrong side of the material to be 
trimmed; taking care not to take your stitches too far 
through so that they are in danger of catching the paper, 
or appearing on the outside of the rouleau. When the rouleau 
is all on, remove the tacking at the first end, and carefully 
draw out the folded slip of paper, which should then be put 



APPENDIX. 445 

away, for future use. When the paper is withdrawn, the 
ribbon will remain fixed in a round, handsome roll. Finally, 
secure it permanently at each end by a few stitches. 

This is the only true way of making a neat and smooth 
rouleau, and is practised by good milliners and dress- 
makers. 



KOSE LEAF WAVE TRIMMING.— Take some ribbon, 
or a strip of hemmed silk, either exactly the same colour 
as the dress, or a decided contrast. With a needle threaded 
with very long silk, run the ribbon up and down from edge 
to edge in a pointed wave, each wave of the same size. 
Then draw up the gathering-thread, and the ribbon will 
take the form of a wreath or strip of rose-leaves, one leaf up 
and one leaf down. It is a very pretty trimming for skirts, 
cap-sleeves, pelerines, &c,, is very soon done, and does not 
lose its shape like many ribbon trimmings. You should have 
the same quantity of ribbon .as for quilling. Bonnets and 
caps may be trimmed with it. 



TO SMOOTH A CREASED OR RUMPLED RIBBON.— 

Lay the ribbon evenly on a clean table or board ; and with 
a very clean sponge damp it all over, missing no part. Next, 
roll it, smoothly and tightly, on a ribbon-block that is wider 
than the ribbon, and let it remain till dry. Afterwards, 
transfer it to a fresh block (which must be perfectly dry) 
rolling it round that. Wrap it up closely in coarse hrown 
paper, and keep it thus till you want to use it. * Ironing a 
ribbon is apt to discolour it, and give it a faded Icok even 
when new. 

Ribbons and other silks should always fee put away in 
coarse, brown paper ; the chloride of lime used in manufao- 

38 



446 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

turing wJiite paper frequently produces spots and stains. 
Coarse brown paper being made of old ropes picked to pieces^ 
the tar still lingering about them, preserves the colours of the 
silks. 



HEMMING IN POINTS OR SCOLLOPS.— This forms 
a Yery neat and pretty edge for night-gowns, or to go round 
white wrappers, or petticoats. First, lay down a strait, even 
hem, on the riglit side of the muslin. Then draw with a 
pencil on a card, the outline of such a scollop as you want, 
either round, or semi-circular, or pointed, and cut it out 
of the card with your scissors. It must not be quite so deep 
as the hem you have laid down. Lay this card-scollop upon 
the hem, and with a pencil trace its outline all along the 
edge, fitting it handsomely at the corners. Or, you may 
draw it on the hem with a small camel-hair brush, dipped in 
indigo-blue, mixed on a plate with a little starch and water. 
At the bottom of the Vow of scollops leave suJB&cient muslin 
to turn in when hemming. When the scollops are all drawn, 
run them in short stitches with a needle and thread, guided 
by the outline. Nest, with sharp scissors, cut or trim 
off the superfluous muslin from the space between the scol- 
lops, taking care not to cut too close to the sewing, lest it 
ravel out. Afterwards, with the blunt point of a bodkin, 
turn all the scollops right side out. This turning will put 
them on the right side of the muslin. Lastly, hem down the 
raw edge along the bottom of the scollops. This is a very 
expeditious way of scolloping muslin ; and it looks extremely 
well ; each scollop being double when finished. 



CORNS' BETWEEN THE TOES.— Of aU corns, these are 
the most painful, and least accessible to the usual remedies. 



APPENDIX. 447 

And, like all others, they never stay cured, but always re- 
turn after a while, and again require relief. There is no- 
thing better than to rub them lightly and carefully with a 
mixture of sweet oil and hartshorn-spirit, well stirred toge- 
ther every time it is used, and adding every time, a few 
drops of fresh hartshorn. Keep it in a covered gallicup, and 
apply it several times during the day, and always before and 
after walking out. Having bared your foot, place it on a low 
Btool, on which is laid a folded paper or a thick cloth to pre- 
vent grease from the oil. With your finger, rub the mixture 
on the corns between your toes, till they are well saturated. 
Then wipe off the superfluous oil, (or that which runs down,) 
and put on your stocking. You will find immediate ease, 
and by persevering in the remedy for a week or two, the 
corns will dhninish so as to be no longer inconvenient or 
painful ; and it may be several years before you are again 
troubled with them. We hioic this remedy to be excellent. 
Try it. 



EXCELLENT COLOGNE WATER.— Get at a drug- 
gist's six cents' worth of oil of rosemary — six cents' worth 
of oil of lavender — tAvelve cents' worth of oil of bergamot, 
and twelve cents' worth of oil of lemon. Have them all put 
into a new pint bottle, and shake it well. Then pour in 
half a pint of inodorous akohol, (called by the apothecaries 
absolute alcohol) shake it hard, and cork it tightly. It im- 
proves by keeping; and the fragrance will be found de- 
lightful. If you have no objection to musk, you may add to 
the other ingredients twelve cents* worth of the tincture 
of that article. Inodorous alcohol should be used for all 
Cologne water. The common spirits of wine leaves a smell 



448 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

of whisky on the handkerchief, after the perfume of the oils 
has evaporated. 

A few drops of this Cologne will be more fragrant, and the 
perfume will continue far longer than that of a table-spoon- 
ful of such as is usually offered for sale. Much that passes 
for genuine imported Cologne is in reality made in this 
country, put up in old, long bottles, and with a false label 
representing the cathedral, &c. 

I recommend this receipt from long experience of its ex- 
cellence. 



FARINA'S EAU DE COLOGNE.— 

Oil of bergamot, half an ounce. 

Oil of lemon, a quarter of an ounce. 

Oil of lavender, a quarter of an ounce. 

Oil of rosemary, a quarter of an ounce. 

Oil of Portugal, a quarter of an ounce. 

Essence of neroli, a quarter of an ounce. 

Essence of cedrat, a quarter of an ounce. 

Tincture of musk, ten drops. 

Absolute or inodorous alcohol, one pint. 

Mix all these articles together, in a clean bottle, &c. 
Shake it well and cork it tightly. It improves by keeping. 
Shake it every day, for a week or two. 



ANOTHER RECEIPT FOR COLOGNE WATER.— 

Half an ounce of oil of sweet marjoram. 

Half an ounce of oil of thyme. 

Half an ounce of essence of violets. 

Half an ounce of essence of carnations. 

Six drops of oil of cinnamon. 



APPENDIX. 449" 

Mix the above in a bottle, and then pour in a pint of in- 
odorous or absolute alcohol. Cork, and shake it well. 

Both these receipts mixed together, will make the finest 
possible eau de Cologne ; but either one will be found ex- 
cellent. 



FINE LAVENDER WATER.— An ounce of oil of laven- 
der — a hundred drops of essence of ambergris. A pint of in- 
odorous alcohol ; mixed together, and ttcU shaken. 



THE TOOL CLOSET. — Much inconvenience, and consi- 
derable expense might be saved, if it was the general custom 
to keep in every house certain tools for the purpose of per- 
forming at home what are called small jobs, instead of being 
always obliged to send for a mechanic and pay him for exe- 
cuting little things, that, in most cases, could be sufficiently 
well done by a man or boy belonging to the family, provided 
that the proper instruments were at hand. The cost of these 
articles is very trifling, and the advantages of having them' 
always in the house are far beyond the expense. For in- 
stance, there should be an axe, a hatchet, a saw, (a large 
wood-saw also, with a buck or stand if wood is burned,) a 
claw-hammer ; a mallet ; two gimlets of different sizes, two 
ecrew-drivers, a chisel, a small plane ; one or two jack- 
knives ; a pair of large scissors or shears ; and a carpet 
fork, or stretcher. Also, an assortment of nails of various 
sizes, from large spikes down to small tacks, not forgetting 
brass-headed nails, some large and some smaller. Screws, , 
likewise, will be found very convenient, and hooks on which 
to hang things. The nails and screws should be kept in a 
wooden box made with divisions to separate the various 
sorts, for it is very troublesome to have them mixed. 



38« 



450 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

No houso should be without glue, chalk, putty, common 
paint, cord, twine, and wrapping-paper. And let caro 
be taken to keep up the supply, lest it should run out unex- 
pectedly, and the deficiency cause delay and inconvenience 
at a time when their use is most wanted. 

It is well to have somewhere in the lower part of the 
house, a deep light closet, appropriated entirely to tools and 
things of equal utility, for executing promptly such little 
repairs as convenience may require, without the delay or ex- 
pense of procuring an artisan. This closet should have at least 
one large shelf, and that about three feet from the floor. Be- 
neath this shelf may be a deep drawer divided into two com- 
partments. This drawer may contain cakes of glue ; pieces 
of chalk ; hanks of manilla-grass cord ; and balls of twine 
of different size and quality. 

There may be shelves at the sides of the closet for glue- 
pots ; paste-pots, and brushes ; pots for black, white, green, 
and red paint ; cans of painting-oil ; paint-brushes, &c. 
' Against the wall, above the large shelf, let the tools be sus- 
pended, or laid across nails or hooks of proper size to sup- 
port them. This is much better than keeping them in a box, 
where they may be injured by rubbing against each other, 
and the hand may be hurt in feeling among them to find the 
thing that is wanted. But when hung up against the back- 
wall of the closet, of course, each tool can be seen at a glance. 
I have been shown an excellent and simple contrivance for 
designating the exact places allotted to all these articles in a 
very complete tool-closet. On the closet-wall, directly under 
the large nails that support the tools, is drawn with a small 
brush dipped in black paint or ink, an outline representation 
of the tool or instrument belonging to that particular place. 
For instance, under each saw is sketched the outline of that 



•APPENDIX. 451 

saw ; unler each gimlet a sketch of that gimlet ; under the 
screw-drivers are slight drawings of screw-drivers. So that 
when bringing back any tool that has been taken away fur 
use, the exact spot to which it belongs can be found in a 
moment ; and all confusion in putting them up and finding 
them again is thus prevented. 

Wrapping-paper may be piled on the floor under the large 
shelf. It can be bought very low by the ream, at the large 
paper-stores ; and every house should keep a supply of it in 
several varieties. For instance, coarse brown paper for com- 
mon purposes ; that denominated ironmonger's paper, which is 
strong, thick, and in large sheets, is useful for packing heavy 
articles ; and equally so for keeping silks, -ribbons, blondes, 
&c., as it preserves their colours. Nankeen paper is best 
for putting up nice parcels, such as books, and things of fine 
quality. What is called shoe-paper (each ream containing 
several colours, red, blue, buflF, &c.) is very useful for wrap- 
ping nice articles, as it is thin, soft, and not brittle. Shoe- 
paper is very cheap, generally about fifty cents a ream, and 
no sort is more useful. 

Newspapers are unfit for wrapping anything, as the print- 
ing-ink rubs ofi" on the articles inclosed in them, and also 
soils the gloves of the person that carries the parcel. When 
shopping, if the person at the counter proceeds to wrap up 
your purchase In newspaper, (a thing rarely attempted in a 
genteel store, ) refuse to take it in such a cover. It is the busi- 
ness of every respectable store-keeper to provide proper paper 
for this purpose ; and printed paper is not proper. Waste 
newspapers had best be used for lighting fires, singeing poul- 
try, and cleaning windows and mirrors. Waste paper that 
has been written on, cut into slips, and creased and folded, 
makes very good allumettes or lamp-lighters. It is well to 



452 THE HOUSE BOOK. 

keep a large jar or box for scraps of old paper, as it sells for 
a cent a pound, and these cents may be given to a poor 
person. 

I have seen people, ■when they were preparing for a jour- 
ney, or putting up things to send away, almost " at their 
wit's end'' for want of a sheet of good wrapping-paper, a 
string of twine, or a few nails to fasten a box. I have 
known a door to remain open during the whole of a cold 
day, and a cold evening, for want of a screw-driver to fix a 
loose lock. It seems scarcely credible that any family in 
what is called respectable life should be without a hammer. 
Yet we know persons whose sole dependence for that ever- 
useful article was on borrowing of a neighbour. And when 
the hammer was obtained, not a nail of the right size could 
be found in the house. . 

The attention of boys should be early directed to the use 
of common tools. If they had tools at hand, there are few boys 
in our country that would not take pleasure in using them. 
By seeing carpenters, locksmiths, bell-hangers, glaziers, &c., 
at work, an observant and clever boy may soon learn to be 
a tolerably expert amateur in these arts. And this know- 
ledge may be turned to excellent account if they have occa- 
sion afterwards to live in a remote place, where artisans are 
scarce, or not to be procured without much delay and ex- 
pense. 

I have known boys, (the sons of gentlemen,) who could 
make a box, or a bench, or a little table — ^who could hang 
and repair bell-wires, mend locks and hinges ; paint a gate 
or a railing ; paper a small room, re-lay a brick hearth, re- 
pair the yard-pavement, and find amusement in doing these 
things. Coloured servant-men, when there are proper tools 
at hand, are often very expert at all these jobs. 



APPENDIX. 453 

I knew a family, in which there were four boys (descend- 
ants of Dr. Franklin) who, entirely, and with their own 
hands, built for themselves, in a large yard, what they called 
a play-house — meaning a house to play in, when the weather 
was too bad for recreation in the open air. It was a one 
story, one-room structure, made of boards, with a shingled 
roof. It had a well-fitted door, and two well-glazed windows ; 
and they papered the walls with newspapers. There they 
could have their fun and make their noise without disturb- 
ing the family, and this enjoyment amply repaid them for 
all their trouble. 

Parents, encourage your boys in building such play- 
houses. 



TO EXTRACT PRICKLY-PEAR— If you have unfor- 
tunately handled or trodden on the prickly-pear plant, a good 
way of extracting the painful, though scarcely visible, thorns, 
is to wash your hands or feet with strong vinegar. 



SEED TICKS. — These very annoying little insects may 
be expelled by brushing them off with a bunch of penny- 
royal, or with a bit of cotton dipped in oil of penny-royal. 



SOAPING CLOTHES.— Clotlics will come out much 
cleaner and whiter, if, before putting them into the tub, 
some wetted soap is rubbed well on the dirty places. Then 
roll them up with the soap on them, and lay them aside till 
the water is hot, and all is ready to begin washing. This 
the laundresses call "starting the dirt," and it renders them 
much easier to wash. Afterwards, put them in +he tub, 
having stirred into the water some of the Washing Mixture, 
designated at the beginning of this appendix. Press them 
down with your hands, and proceed as directed in page 429 



INDEX. 



Accidents from fire, 147. 
Alabaster, (to clean,) 199. 
Anthracite coal, 129. 
Anthracite coal grates, 129. 
Ants, (to destroy,) 114. 
Aronetta dye, 98. 
Astral lamps, 156. 
Astral lamps, (management of,) 

157. 
Attics, (the) 325. 



Baskets, 239. 

Beaver hats, (to take care of,) 70. 

Bed-bugs or chinches, (remedies 

for,) 105. 
Bedding, 308. 
Bed-covers, 311. 
Bed-curtains, 306. 
Bed feathers, (to wash,) 64. 
Bed-rooms, to clean,) 318. 
Beds, (to make up,) 316. 
Beds, (to warm,) 321. 
Bedsteads, 303. 
Bedsteads, (to put up,) 305. 
Bees, (to keep,) 370. 
Bells, 332. 

Bishop's lawn, (to wash,) 46. 
Bituminous or English coal, 141. 
Blacking, (fine — to make,) 73. 
Blacking that will preserve the 

leather, 73. 
Blacking for stoves, 216. 



Black crape, (to remove water- 
stains from,) 85. 
Black dye, 99. 
Black dye for yarn, 104. 
Black silk, (to wash,) 45. 
Black silk sleeves, (to restore when 

faded,) 79. 
Black silk stockings, (to wash,) 58. 
Black worsted stockings,(to wash,) 

34. 
Blankets, (to keep through the 

summer,) 310. 
Blankets, (to wash,) 34. 
Block tin dish covers, (to clean,) 

207. , 
Blond, (to wash,) 54. 
Blue composition, 96. 
Blue dye, 95. 
Blue dye, (dark,) 96. 
Blue dye for yarn, 103. 
Bobbinet, (to shrink,) 62. 
Bobbinet or cotton lace, (to wash,) 

51. 
Body of a dress, (to make,) 410. 
Bonnet cover, (to make,) 353. 
Bonnets, (gingham — to wash,) 48. 
Bonnets, (straw or Leghorn — to 

clean,) 67. 
Book muslin dresses, (to wash,) 43. 
Boots and shoes, (to clean,) 72. 
Boots and shoes, (French polish 

for,) 74. 
Boot tops, (wash for,) 74. 
455 



456 



INDEX. 



Brass, (to clean,) 218. 
Brass kettles, (to clean,) 219. 
Bread seals, (to make,) 375. 
Breakfast table, (to set,) 274. 
Biick hearths, (to clean,) 201. 
Brick oven, (to. heat,) 145. 
Britannia metal, (to clean,) 207. 
Broken dishes, (to mend,) 291. 
Broken glass, (to mend,) 292. 
Brown dye, 100. 
Brown dye for yarn, 101. 
Brown linen, (fine — to wash,) 47. 
Brushing a coat, 75. 
Brushes, 241. 
Brushes, (to clean,) 72. 
Buff colour, (to dye,) 102. 
Buff dye, (excellent,) 97. 
Burn salve, (to make,) 150. 
Butter knives, 254. 



Candles, 167. 

Candles, (common mould — to 

. make,) 168. 
Candles, (fine home-made,) 169. 
Candles, (dip — to make,) 170. 
Candles, (small vrax — to make,) 

169. 
Cand]esticks,(japannejd — to clean,) 

209. 
Candlesticks,(silver and plated — to 

clean,) 206. 
Carpets, 173. 
Carpet-bags, 352. 
Carpets, (to beat,) 181. 
Carpets, (bed-room,) 178. 
Carpets, (stair,) 179. 
Carpets, (to sweep,) 180. 
Carpets, (to wash,) 181. 
Carpets, (to extract oil from,) 83. 
Carpets, (rag,) 185. 
Castors, 251. 
Carving, 268. 



Cask, (an old one — to sweeten,) 

226. 
Cellars, 245. 

Cement for alabaster, &c., 293 
Cement cakes, 294. 
Cement, (common,) 293. 
Cement for iron, 293. 
Chairs, sofas, &c., 296. 
Chairs, (to clean,) 198, 340. 
Chair-screens, 153. 
Chandeliers, (to clean,) 212, 
Charcoal, 127. 
Chemises, (to make,) 394. 
Chimneys, 334. 
Chi«raneys on fire, 146. 
China-ware, 290. 
China, (to pack,) 347. 
Chinches, or bed-bugs, (to destroy,) 

105. 
Chintz, (dark — to wash,) 39. 
Chintz, (furniture — to wash,) 49. 
Cinnamon brown, (to dye,) 100. 
Clipping bags, 196. 
Cloak, (a lady's— to fold,) 77. 
Clothes balls, 91. 
Cloth clothes, (to wash,) 35. 
Clothes brushes, (to clean,) 72. 
Coal, (anthracite,) 129. 
Coal grates, (anthracite,) 129. 
Coal grate fires, 132. 
Coal stove fires, 139. 
Coal spark, (to extract from the 

eye,) 150. 
Coffee starch, 21. 
Cockroaches, (to destroy,) 109. 
Coke fires, 142. 

Collar, (false one — to make,) 392. 
Coloured dresses, (to wash,) 37. 
Colours, (liquid — to prepare,) 379. 
Combs, (to clean,) 72. 
Combs, (tortoise-shell — to mend,) 

71. 
Cotton coTTiforfablo<;,(to makp,)313. 



INDEX. 



Cotton stockings, (unbleached — to 

wash,) 59. 
Cotton cord, (to shrink,) 62. 
Counterpanes, (to wash,) 313. 
Court-plaster, (to make,) 381. 
Cow, (to keep,) 355. 
Cream oysters, 288. 
Crickets, (to destroy,) 112. 
Crockery, (kitchen,) 233. 
Curtains, 188. 
Curtains, (to clean,) 189. 



Dairy, 359. 

Dampness in beds, (to detect,) 32X, 

Damp walls, 335. 

Decanters^ (to clean,) 209. 

Dip candles, (to make,) 170. 

Dining-tables, (to polish,) 197. 

Dinner table, (to set,) 256. 

Dinner table^ (to wait on,) 261. 

Doilies, 256. 

Doors and windows, (to stop their 

cracks,) 322. 
Door locks, 333, 
Down feathers, (to clean,) 64. 
Double wrappers, (to make,) 401. 
Dresses, (coloured — to wash,) 37. 
Dress, (book muslin — to wash,) 43. 
Dress, (painted muslin — to wash,) 

42. 
Dress, (a lady's — to fold,) 75. 
Dresses, (to fold for packing,) 347. 
Dress-making, (hints on,) 406. 
Dress, (a lady's — to make the 
-• body,) 410. 

Dress, (to make the sleeves,) 416. 
Dress, (to make the skirt,) 420. 
Ducks, (to keep,) 369. 
Durable ink, (to make,) 37.8. 
Dust, (to remove from a dress,) 86. 
Dyes, (domestic — remarks on,) 93. 
Dyos for yarn, (country manner,) 101. 



39 



Enamelled kettles, (to clean,) 220, 

Entrance halls, 328. 

Entry lamps, 160. 

Evening parties, (hints on,) 280. 



Faded dress, (to bleach,) 26. 

False collars, (to make,) 392. 

False shirt-bosoms, (to make,) 393 

Feathers, (bed — to wash,) 64. 

Filtering jars, 244. 

Finger glasses, 254. 

Fire irons, (to clean,) 216, 

Fire irons, (to prevent from rust- 
ing,) 217. 

Fire screens, 151. 

Flannel, (to make up,) 396. 

Flannel, (new — to shrink,) 31, 32. 

Flannel, (to wash,) 32, 

Fleas, 111. 

Flies, 112. 

Floating tapers, 163. 

Floating tapers, (cheap ones,) 166 

Floating tapers, (to renew,) 164. 

Flower stands, 194. 

Folding clothes for ironing, 26. 

Folding a coat, 75. 

Folding a coat for packing, 348. 

Folding a lady's dress, 75. 

Folding a dress for packing, 347. 

Folding a lady's cloak, 77. '' 

Floors, 335. 

Forks, (to clean,) 213. 

Fowls, (to keep,) 363. 

Front doors, 330. 

Fruit stains, (to remove,) 79. 

Furniture, (black walnut,) 193 

Furniture, (curled maple,) 193, 

Furniture, (mahogany,) 192. 

Furniture, (rose wood,) 193. 

Furniture, (varnished raahogan.* 
to clean,) 196. 

Furniture, (kitchen,) 228. 



458 



INDEX. 



Furniture, (to take care when the 
house is repairing,) 343. 



Geese, (to keep,) 36S. 

German silver, (to clean,) 206. 

Gingham bonnets, (to wash,) 48 

Gilt chandeliers, (to clean,) 212. 

Glass, (broken — to mend,) 292. 

Glass, (to pack,) 347. 

Glass, (to clean,) 210. 

Glass stoppers, (to get out,) 210. 

Gloves, (kid or hoskin — to wash,) 
61. 

Gloves, (white French thread — to 
clean,) 59. , 

Gloves, (gentlemen's — to clean,) 
62. 

Gloves, (wash-leather — to wash,) 
60. 

Glue stiffening, 22. 

Glue, (common,) 295. 

Glue, (of rice,) 295. 

Gold fish, (to take care of;) 375. 

Gold muslin, (to wash,) 44. 

Gold ornaments, (to clean,) 70. 

Gown dress, (to make,) 425. 

Grates for anthracite coal, 129. 

Grease, (to extract from a dress,) 80. 

Grease spots, (to remove from 
books,) 83. 

Grease, (to remove from wall pa- 
per,) 84. 

Green dye, 96. 

Green dye for yarn, 103. 

Green colouring for maps, 379. 



Hearths, (brick — to clean,) 201. 
Heat marks, (to remove from a 

table,) 88. 
Hints on evening parties, 280. 
Hints on dress-making, 406. 
Hoskin gloves, (to clean,) 61. 
Hood, (a lady's — to make,) 403. 
House-cleaning, (preparations for,) 

336. 
House-cleaning, (finishing,) 342. 
Household articles, (to pack,) 354. 
Hydrants, 247. 



Ink, (black— to make,) 376. 

Ink, (durable — to make,) 378. 

Ink, (red — to make,) 378, 

Ink-stains, (to remove from a car- 
pet,) 87. 

Ink-stains, (to take out of maho- 
gany,) 88. 

Ink-stains, (to take out of a table- 
cover,) 86. 

Ink-stains, (to take out of white 
clothes,) 87. 

Ink-stains, (to take out of un« 
painted wood,) 88. 

Ink, (marking — to take out,) 87. 

Italian or patent iron, 29. 

Ironing, 26. 

Ironing silk, 31. 

Ironing velvet, 30. 

Iron, (polished — to preserve from 
rust,) 218. 

Iron ware, 234. 

Iron, (cement for when broken;) 
293. 



Hard soap, (to make,) 17. 
Hard soap, (fine — to make,) 18. 
Hats, (beaver — to take care of,) 70. 
Head-brushes, (to clean,) 72. 
Hearths, (stone — to elean,) 201. 



Japanned candlesticks, (to clean,) 

'209. 
Japanned waiters, (to clean,) 208. 
Jars, (to purify,) 224". 



INDEX, 



450 



Keeping a cow, 355. 
Kettles, (brass — to clean,) 219. 
Kettles, (tea— to clean,) 2,21. 
Kettles, (porcelain,) 220. 
Kitchen clothes, 240. 
Kitchen crockery, 233. 
Kitchen furniture, 228. 
Kitchen lamps, 163. 
Knife rests, 254. 
Knives, (to clean,) 213. 



Lace,(cotton orbobbinet — to wash,) 

51. 
Lace, (thread — to wash,) 52, 53. 
Lace, (gold — to clean,) 45. 
Lace veil, (black — to wash,) 56. 
Lace veil, (white — to wash,) 55. 
Lamps, (astral,) 156. 
Lamps, (astral — to manage,) 157. 
Lamps, (chamber,) 162. 
Lamps, (entrj--,) 160. 
Lamps, (kitchen,) 163. 
Lamps, (night,) 165. 
Lamp oil, 155. 
Lamp oil, (to take out of a carpet,) 

83. 
Lamp oil, (to take out of a floor,) 82. 
Lamp oil, to extract from a dress,) 

81. 
Lamp oil, (to extract from a sofa,) 

82. 
Lamp rugs, 161. 
Lanterns, 163. 
Laundry work, 7. ^ 
Lawn, (bishop's — to wash,) 46. 
Leghorn bonnets, (to clean,) 67. 
Linen, (to make up,) 386. 
Linen, (mildewed — to restore,) 88. 
Linen, (scorched — to restore,) 89. 
Ciuen, (stained — to restore,) 90. 
'iinen window-blinds, 190. 
fjinen, (to whiten,) 89. 



Loolfing-glasses, (to clean,) 211. 
L3'e, (to make,) 13. 



Mahogany furniture, 192. 
Mahogany furniture, (varnished — 

to clean,) 196. 
Mahogany tables, (unvarnished — 

to clean,) 197. 
Mahogany, (to remove ink-spots 

from,) 88. 
Mahogany chairs and sofas, 198. 
Maps, (to colour,) 380. 
Marble, (white — to clean,) 199. 
Marble, (coloured — to clean,) 200. 
Marble, (cement for,) 293. 
Marabout feathers, (to clean,) 64. 
Marking ink, (to take out,) 87. 
Marseilles quilt, (to wash,) 313. 
Mattrasses, (to renew,) 66. 
Mats for the table, 253. 
Matting, (straw,) 184. 
Merino dresses, (to wash,) 41. 
Mice, 1 17. 

Mildew, (to take out of linen,) 88, 
Mirrors, 300. 
Mixture for stains, 91. 
Moths, 1 15. 

Mould candles, (to make,) 168. 
Mourning chintz, (to wash,) 39. 
Mousseline de laine, (to wash,) 4L 
Mud, (to take out of a dress,) 86. 
Muslin, (book — to wash,) 43. 
Muslin, (gold or silver — to wash,) 

44. 
Muslin, (painted — to wash,) 42 
Muslins, (small — to do up,) 49. 
Musquitoes, 112. 



Nankeen, (to wash,) 48. 
Nankeen colour, (to dye,) 99. 
Napkins, 255. 



460 



1 N D E X. 



New tin, (to remove its taste,) 225. 
New wood, (to remove its taste,) 

225. 
Night gowns, (to make,) 398. 
Night capes, (to make,) 403. 
Nurseries, 323. 



Oil cans, (to clean,) 155. 

Oil cloths or painted carpets, 183. 

Olive dye, 100. 

Orange dye, 102. 

Ornaments of gold, (to clean,). 70. 

Oysters, (with cream,) 288. 

Oyster patties, 289. 



Polishing dining- tables, 197. 
Porcelain kettles, 220. 
Poultry, (to draw,) 272. 
Pounce, (to make,) 381. 
Preparations for house-cleaning, 

335. 
Preparing rooms for summer, 344. 
Pumps, 247. 
Putty, (old— to soften,) 292. 



Quilts, (to wash,) 3l2. 
Quilts, (Marseilles — to wa«h,) 313 
Quilts, (silk — to make,) 314. 
Quilted wrappers, 402. 



Packing a carpet hag, 352. 
Packing glass and china, 347. 
Packing household articles, 354. 
Packing a large trunk, 349. 
Paint, (to clean,) 339. 
Paint, (to remove from a dress,) 84. 
Paint, (to remove from a coat,) 85. 
Paint, (to remove its smell,) 343. 
Painted muslin, (to wash,) 42. 
Pantry, 251. 

Paper, (to make transparent,) 380. 
Paper window-blinds, 190. 
Paste, (common — for paper,) 294. 
Paste, (cold,) 295. 
Paste, (rye,) 295. 
Pearls, (to clean,) 71. 
Pelerines, (to make,) 426. 
Pencil marks, (to preserve,) 381. 
Pictures, 186. 
Pink dye, 94. 
Phials, (to wash,) 211. 
Plate mixture, (fine,) 204. 
Plate mixture, (another,) 204, 
Plated candlesticks, (to clean,) 206. 
Plated ware, (to clean,) 205. 
Plate£ and dishes, (to wash,) 223. 



Rabbit skins, (to prepare,) 120. 

Rag carpets, 185, 

Rats, 117. 

Receptacles for dresses, 298. 

Refrigerators, 243. 

Red dye, 94. 

Red dye for yam, 103. 

Red colouring for maps, 379. 

Remarks on bed-chambers, 296. 

Remarks on domestic dyes, 93. 

Remarks on dyeing yarn, 101, 

Remarks on kitchens, 227. 

Remarks on sewing-work, 382. 

Remedies for stings, &c., 116. 

Rennets, (to prepare,) 362. 

Reticules, (travelling,) 352. 

Ribbons, (to wash,) 56. 

Rice glue, 295. 

Rocking-chairs, 194. 

Rush lights, 170. 

Rust, (to take out of steel,) 217 



Safes, 244. 

Salmon colour, (to dye,) 98. 

Salt of lemon, 92. 



INDEX, 



461 



Satin shoes, (white — to clean,) 91. 

Scorched linen, (to restore,) 89. 

Scrap jars, 195. 

Scrubbing floors, 341. 

Setting the dinner table, 256. 

Sewing, 3S2. 

Silk, (black — to wash,) 45. 

Silk sleeves, (black — to restore,) 79. 

Silk, (to iron,) 31. 

Silk, (to keep,) 90. 

Silk quilt, (to make,) 314. 

Silver, (to clean,) 201. 

Silver, (German — to clean,) 206. 

Shirts, (to fold,) 349. 

Shirts, (plain ones — to make,) 388. 

Shirts with bosom pieces, 390. 

Shirts open at the back of the 
neck, 391. 

Shirt bosoms, (false — to make,) 393. 

Shirt collars, (false — to make,) 392. 

Short blinds for windows, 191. 

Shrinking bobbinet, 62. 

Shrinking cotton cord, 62. 

Shrinking new flannel, 31, 32. 

Skirt of a dress, (to make,) 420. 

Skylights, 327. 

Slate colour, (to dye,) 99. 

Sleeves of a dress, (to make,) 416. 

Slop buckets, (to purify,) 224. 

Small muslins, (to wash,) 49. 

Small wax candles, (^to make,) 169. 

Soap fat, (to keep from moulding,) 
14, 15. 

Soap, (common hard — to make,) 17. 

Soap, (fine hard — to make,) 18. 

Soft soap, (to make,) 15. 

Soda, (for washing,) 24. 

Sofas and mahogany chairs, 198. 

Spark, (to extract 'from the eye,) 
150. 

Spermaceti, (to take out,) 85. 

Spots of tar and turpentine, (to re- 
move,) 81. 



39* 



Sprinkling and folding clothea, 2b. 
Squirrel-skins, (to prepaie,) 120. 
Stains, *(to remove from ulaok 

crape,) 85. 
Stains, (to remove from table- 
linen,) 78. 
Stains, (to remore from silk,) 79. 
Stains, (to remove from silvei 

spoons,) 204. 
Stains of stove pipes, or soot, 83. 
Stair carpets, 179, 
Stair rods, (to clean,) 219. 
Starch, (common — to prepare,) 20. 
Starch, (gum-arabic,) 21. 
Starch of home manufacture, 20. 
Starch made with coffee, 21. 
Steel, (to remove its rust,) 217. 
Stockings, (black worsted — to 

wash,) 34. 
Stockings, (black silk — to wash,) 

58. 
Stockings, (white silk — to wash,) 

57. 
Stockings, (silk — to tinge pink,) 

68. 
Stockings, (French thread — to 

wash,) 59. 
Stockings, (unbleached cotton — to 

wash,) 59. 
Stockings, (woollen — to wash,) 33. 
Stone hearths, (to clean,) 201. 
Stopping door and window cracks 

322. 
Store-rooms, 248. 
Stoves, (blacking for,) 216. 
Stoves, (glose,) 125. 
Stoves for coal, 125. 
Stoves for wood, 127. 
Straw bonnets, (to clean,) 67. 
Straw matting, 184. 
Supper parties, 287. 
Svvansdown capes or tippets, (t« 

clean,) 63. 



462 



INDEX. 



Table, (breakfast— to set,) 274. 

Table, (dinner — to set,) 256. 

Table, (to wait on,) 261. 

Table-linen, 255. 

Table mixture, 197. 

Tapers, (floating,) 163. 

Tapers, (floating — very cheap,) 
166. 

Tapers, (floating — to renew,) 164. 

Tar or turpentine spots, (to re- 
move,) 81. 

Tea-kettles, (to clean,) 221. 

Tea-table, (to set,) 279. 

Tea things, (to wash,) 222. 

Tea urns, (to clean,) 208. 

Tin dish-covers, (to clean,) 207. 

Tins, (common — to clean,) 208. 

Tin, (new — to remove its taste of 
rosin,) 225. 

Tin ware, 236. 

Thread gloves and stockings, (to 
wash,) 59. 

Toilet tables, 300. 

Tortoise shell, (to clean, and mend,) 
71. 

Trunks, (to pack,) 349. 

Turkeys, (to keep,) 367. 



Venetian blinds, 190. 
Vials, (to wash,) 211. 



Washing bed-feithers, 64. 
Washing with soda, 24. 
Washing white clothes, 22 
Washing-stands, 301. 
Wax, (to take out of cloth,) 85. 
Wax candles, (small ones — t* 

make,) 169. 
Wax-polish, (for furniture,) 197 
Whiting, (very fine,) 205. 
Whitening clothes, 25. 
White satin shoes, (to clean,) 91 
White-washing, 338. 
Wilmington clay balls, 92. 
Window cracks, (to stop,) 322. 
Window-blinds of linen, 190. 
Window blinds of paper, 190. 
Window panes, (to mend,) 292. 
Window washing, 340. 
Wood, 121. 
Wood fires, 122. 
Wood stove fires, 123. 
Wooden ware, 238. 
Woollen shawls, (to wash,) 37. 
Woollen stockings, (to wash,) 33. 
Woollen table-covers, (to wash,) 

36. 
Woollen yarn, (to wash,) 34. 
Worsted stockings, (black — to 

wash,) 34. 
Wrappers, (double — to make,) 401 
Wrappers, (quilted — to make,) 402 



Waiting on table, 261. 
Walls, 171. 



Yellow dye, 95. 

Yellow dye for yarn, 103. 



A. ITAET, LATE CxVREY & IIAIIT, 

HAS RECENTLY PUBLISHED THE 4tH EDITION OF 

THE LADY'S'NEW RECEIPT BOOK : 

CONTAINING DIRECTIONS FOll 

COOKING, PIlESERVINa, PICKLING, &c. 

BY MISS LESLIE. 

PRICE ONE DOLLAR. 



THE FOLLOWING IS A LIST OF ITS CONTENTS: 



Albany cake 195. 

Alkanet colouring, 250. 

Almond icing, 221. 

Almond pudding, boiled, 112. 

Almond rice pudding, 112. 

Almond soup, 16. 

Altona fritters, 133. 

American chintzes, to wash, 307. 

American citron, 165. 

American prunes, 183. 

Anchovy toast, 29. 

A nts, — to destroy garden ants,280. 

Ants, — to expel small ants, 280. 

Antique oil, 253. 

Apple cake, 221. 

Apples, to keep, 248. 

Apple marmalade, 191. 

Apples meringued, 154. 

Apples (dried,) 184. 

Apple water, 243. 

Artichokes, fried, 42. 

Artificial flowers, fine colouring 
for, 337. 

Arsenic, remedy for, 290. 

Asparagus loaves, 46. 

Asparagus omelet, 46. 

Atmosphere of a room, to pu- 
rify, 288. 

Austrian cake, 146. 

Autumn soup, 4. 

Baked tongue, 76. 
Barberry jam, 174. 
Bathing the feet, 284. 
Batter cakes, (Indiana,) 186. 
Batter cakes, (Kentucky,) 186. 
Batter cakes, (rye,) 187. 
Beans, stewed, 49. 
Bed-bugs, to destroy, 279. 
Bee-miller, to destroy, 281. 
Beef, — cold corned, to stew, 73. 



Beef, (French,) 74. 

Beef, minced, 72. 

Beef olives, 75. 

Beef, round of, stewed brown, 69 

Beef, — smoked, to stew, 74. 

Beef-steaks with mushrooms, 72. 

Beef-steak pot-pie, 71. 

Beef's tongue, stewed, 76. 

Beets, to keep, 248. 

Bergamot water, 113. 

Biscuit ice-cream, 161. 

Biscuit pudding, 113. 

Biscuit sandwiches, 85. 

Birds in a grove, (French dish,) 

99. 
Birds with mushrooms, (French,) 

98. 
Black lace, to wash, 305. 
Black-currant jelly, (fine,) 171. 
Blackberry syrup, 294. 
Blackberry wine, 233. 
Blanc-mange, (chocolate,) -150. 
Blanc-mange, (coffee,) 151. 
Blanc-mange, (gelatine,) 151. 
Blanc-mange, (maccaroon,) 149, 
Blanc-mange, (Spanish,) 147. 
Blanc-mange, (vanilla,) 148. 
Blue wash for walls, 264. 
Bobbinet, (to hem,) 325. 
Boned turkey, 104. 
Bonnets, 320. 

Bonnet, to keep white, 323. 
Boot-bag, to make, 317. 
Boston cake, 194. 
Brandy grapes, 182. 
Brandy green gages, 181. 
Brandy peaches, (excellent,) 179. 
Brandy peaches, (fine,) "^9. 
Brandy peaches, (the French 

way,) 181. 
Brandy pears, 180. 

loa 



INDEX. 



Bread fritters, 136. 

Bread muffins, 188—299. 

Bread, (rice.) 189. 

Brca<l, (rice-flour,) 190. 

Breakfasts for spring and sum- 
mer, 365. 

Breakfasts for autumn and win- 
ter, 367. 

Breakfast parties, 368. 

Britannia metal, — to keep it 
bright, 272. 

Broccoli and eggs, 41. 

Broken cork, to get out of a bottle, 
268. 

Brown fricassee, 24. 

Brown mixture for a cough, 288. 

Cabbage, an excellent way of 

boiling, 38. 
Cabbage, (red, to stew,) 37. 
Cake, Albany, 195. 
Cake, apple, 221. 
Cake, Austrian, 196. 
Cake, Boston, 194. 
Cake, carraway, 215. 
Cake, chocolate, 201. 
Cakes,' cinnamon, 222. 
Cake, cocoa-nut, (West India,) 

210. 
Cakes, ginger pound, 223. 
Cakes, Harlem, 188. 
Cake, honey, 200. 
Cakes, ice-cream, 205. 
Cake, lemon, 210. 
Cakes, light seed, 215. 
Cake, Madison, 197. 
Cakes, molasses, 227. 
Cakes, palmer, 214. 
Cakes, peach, 1 99. 
Cake, rice-flour pound, 210. 
Cake, rice sponge, 211. 
Cakes, strawberry, 198. 
Cake, sweet-potatoe, 212. 
Cakes, sugar, 227. 
Cakes, to freshen them, 229. 
Cake-syllabub, 151. 
Calf's head, stewed, 61. 
Calves' feet jelly, (hints on,) 164. 
Camphor spirits, 290. 
4G4 



Caper sauce, substitutes for, 17. 

Carbonated syrup-water, 238. 

Carraway gingerbread, 226. 

Carrots, to keep, 248. 

Carrots, stewed, 49. 

Case for combs, brushes, «&c., 318 

Cassia, (oil of,) 253. 

Caterpillars, to destroy, 281. 

Cauliflower, fried, 40. 

Cauliflower omelet, 40. 

Cauliflower maccaroni, 40. 

Cauliflowers and sweetbread, 67 

Celery, fried, 42. 

Cement for jars and bottles, 258. 

Chafed upper-lip, (cure for,) 288. 

Champagne, (gooseberry,) 230. 

Charlotte, (French,) 145. 

Charlotte, (Italian,) 144. 

Charlotte russe, (very fine,) 142. 

Charlotte russe, another way, 143. 

Charlotte pudding, 127. 

Cherry puddingj 118. 

Cherry-water ice, 159. 

Chicken gumbo, 90. 

Chicken patties, 91. 

Chicken pie, (French,) 89. 

Chicken salad, (Italian,) 53. 

Chicken salad, (lettuce,) 52. 

Chicken rice pudding, 91. 

Chickens, stewed whole, 88. 

Chickens with tomatoes, 90. 

Chocolate blanc-monge, 150. 

Chocolate cream, 155. 

Chocolate cream, another way, 
155. 

Chocolate ice-cream, 160. 

Chocolate maccaroons, 207. 

Chocolate pulls, 213. 

Cider, — to keep it sweet, 249. 

Citron, (American,) 165. 

Citron melons, preserved, 187. 

Clam fritters, 32. 

Clam pie, 31. 

Clam soup, (fine,) 13. 

Clam soup, (excellent,) 14. 

Clam sweelbreails, 68. 

Closets, to clear from cock- 
roaches, 276. 

Coal-fise, to extinguish, 295. 



INDEX. 



Coat, dress, or gown, to make it 

set closely to the waist, 337. 
Cochineal colouring, 250. 
Cockroaches, 277. 
Cocoa, 244. 
Cocoa-nut cake, (West India,) 

210. 
Cocoa-nut cream, 157. 
Cocoa-nut pudding, 110. 
Cocoa-nut puffs, 214. 
Cocoa-nut soup, 15. 
Cod-fish, fried, 24. 
Cod-fish, stewed, 24. 
Coffee, an excellent way of 

making it, 243. 
Coflec blanc-mange, 151. 
Cold corned heef, to stew, 73. 
Cold potatoes, to stew, 50. 
Cold starch for linen, 298. 
Colouring for cheese, 250. 
Colours of dresses, to preserve, 

303. 
Coloured water, 251. 
Coloured silks, French mode of 

washing, 300. 
Columbian pudding, 107. 
Columbian soup, 255. 
Columbus eggs, 92. 
Combs and brushes, 318. 
Company dinners for spring, 383. 
Company dinners for summer, 

384. 
Company dinners for autumn, 

386. 
Company dinners for winter, 387. 
Connecticut sausage meat, 80. 
Corks, covering for, 258, 
Corns, to remove from between 

the toes, 327. 
Corn meal pudding, 1 14. 
Corrosive sublimate, (antidote 

for,) 231. 
Cottage pudding, 117. 
Cream cocoa-nut pudding, 110. 
Cream, (pistachio,) 156. 
Cream trout, 23. 
Cream tarts, 204. 
Cream, (vanilla,) 157. 
Crickets, to destroy, 278. 



Croquettes of rice, 92. 
Croquettes of sweetbreads, 65. 
Cross buns, 217. 
Crossing the sea, 356. 
Crullers, (soft,) 216. 
Cucumber catchup, 56. 
Curds and whey, flavoured, 161. 
Currant ice, 158. 
Currant jelly, (excellent,) 173. 
Currant pudding, 118. 
Custard, (green,) 131. 
Custard, (red,) 131. 

Damson jam, 1 75. 

Damson-water ice, 159. 

Dark stains, to remove from sil 

ver, 270. 
Directions for embroidering me- 
rino, 332. 
Directions for working slippers, 

327. 
Directions for making a tabouret, 

339. 
Domestic Frontiniac, 231. 
Domestic Tokay, 233. 
Dried apples, 184. 
Dried peaches, stewed, 184. 
Ducks, (canvas-back, dressed 

plain,) 95. 
Ducks, (canvas-back, roasted,) 

95. 
Ducks, (canvas-back, stewed,) 

96. 
Ducks, (wild ducks, stewed,) 94,. 
Duck soup, 12. 
Dumplings, (sweetmeat,) 133. 
Dusting furniture, 275. 

Eggs, to beat, 193. 
Eggs and broccoli, 41. 
Embroidery on both sides, 336. 
Embroidering standards, 335. 
Excoriated nostrils, (cure for,) 

287. 
Eye-stone, to apply one, 286. 



Fillet of mutton, 59. 
Fillet of pork, 77. 
Frontiniac wine, (domestic,) 231. 
42* 465 



INDEX. 



Flavoured curds and whey, 161. 

Fleas, to expel, 278. 

Fiemington gingerbread, 223. 

Flies, to destroy, 279. 

Four fruit jelly, 174. 

Fowl and oysters, 88. 

French be^f, 74. 

French brandy peaches, 181. 

French charlotte, 145. 

French chicken pie, 85. 

French hungary water, 254. 

French icing for cakes, 220. 

French oyster pie, 30. 

French peas, 48. 

French lamb cutlets, 58- 

French pie, (raised,) 100. 

French stew of rabbits, 84. 

French way of dressing a. shoul- 
der of veal, 62. 

French method of wasliing co- 
loured silks, 300. 

Fresh butter, to keep for frying, 
248. 

Fritters, (Altona,) 133. 

Fritters, (bread,) 136. 

Fritters, (green,) 136. 

Fritters, (Indian,) 137. 

Fritters, (sweetmeat,) 135. 

Fritters, (Washington,) 134. 

Fritters, (wine,) 135. 

Fruit stains, to remove them from 
doilies, napkins, &c., 276. 

Game, a nice way of cooking 

it, 98. 
Garden ants, to destroy, 280. 
Gelatine blanc-mange. 151. 
Gelatine custard 132. 
Giblet pie, 103. 

Gingerbread, (carraway,) 226. • 
Ginger crackers, 224. 
Gingerbread, (Fiemington,) 223. 
Gingerbread, (molasses,) 226. 
Gingerbread for a sea-voyage,225. 
Gingerbread, spiced, 225. 
Glass-stopper, to loosen, 267. 
Gold or silver embroidery, to 

clean, 307. 
Gooseotti-ry champagne, 230. 
4GG 



Gooseberry pudding, 118. 

Gposeberry-watcr ice, 159. 

Grapes, iced, 183, 

Grapes in brandy, 182. 

Grease, to extract with cara- 
phine oil, 263. 

Grease-balls, to make, 263. 

Grease, to remove from a stove- 
hearth, 274. 

Green custard, 131. 

Green currant wine, 230. 

Green fritters, 136. 

Green gages, preserved, 178. 

Green gages in brandy, 181. 

Ground-nut maccaroons, 209. 

Ground rice pudding, (excellent,) 
124. 

Grouse or moorfowl pudding, 103. 

Gumbo, (chicken,) 90. 

Gum arabic paste, 258. 

Hair, an excellent way of improv- 
ing, 259. 

Hair, to have it very good, 260. 

Hair-brushes, convenient ones, 
318. 

Halibut, stewed, 25. 

Ham pie, (French,) 85. 

Ham, potted, 85. 

Ham toast, 87. 

Hands, to make them smooth and 
white, 281. 

Hanover pudding, 109. 

Harlem cakes, 188. 

Hearth in summer, 341. 

Hem of a silk dress, to strengthen, 
326. 

Hints oh calves' feet jelly, 164. 

Hippocras, 234. 

Hoarhound candy, (fine,) 292. 

Honey cake, (fine,) 200. 

Household tools, 347. 

Ice-cream, (biscuit,) 161. 
Ice-cream cakes, 205. 
Ice-cream, (chocolate,) 160. 
Ice-cream, (peach,) 160. 
Icing, (almond,) 221. 
Icing for calces, (French,) 220. 



INDEX. 



Icing for a large cake, 218. 

Iced grapes, 183. 

Iced jelly, 158. 

Imitation lemon syrup, 238. 

Indian fritters, 137. 

Indian pudding, (fine,) 115» 

Indian pudding, (peach,) 115. 

Indian pufl's, 132. ^ 

Ink, to carry while travelling, 3 19. 

Ink, durable — to use, 265. 

Ink, (very fine,) 266. 

Ink, (sumach,) 266. 

Jam, (barberry,) 174. 
Jam, (damson,) 174. 
Jars, to clean, 268. 
Jelly, (black currant, fine,) 174. 
Jelly, (red currant, excellent,) 1 73. 
Jelly, (fourfi-uit,) 174. 
Jelly, (iced,) 158. 
Jelly, (orange, very fine,) 171. 
Jelly puffs, or Sunderlands, 146. 
Jug of molasses, to prevent its 
running over, 294. 

Kentucky batter-cakes, 186. 
Knives, paste for cleaning, 272. 

Lace, (black,) to wash, 305. 

Lace, (thread,) to make it look 
like new, 302. 

Lady's pudding, 128. 

Lady's shoe bag, 317. 

Lamb cutlets, French way, 58. 

Lamb, stewed, 58. 

Lavender compound, (fine,) 293. 

Lavender water, (fine,) 254. 

Laudanum, remedy for an over- 
dose, 291. 

Lemon cakes, (small,) 200. 

Lemon juice, to preserve, 246. 

Lemon kisses, 206. 

Lemons and oranges, to keep, 247. 

Lemon pickle, (fine,) 55. 

Lemon puffs, 201. 

Lemon syrup, (imitation,) 238. 

Letters, 350.' 

Iiettuce peas, 48. 

Lettuce peas, (plain,) 49^ 



Light paste, 140. 
Light seed cake, 214. 
Linen, cold starch for, 298 
Lip glue, 256. 
Lip salve, red, 287. 
Lobster patties, 32. 
Lobster rissoles, 34. 
Looking-glasses, to clean, 269 

Maccaroni, (cauliflower,) 40. 
Maccaroni pudding, 128. 
Maccaroni blanc-mange, 149. 
Maccaroons, (chocolate,) 207. 
Maccaroons, (ground-nut,) 209. 
Maccaroons, (lemon,) 209. 
Macassar oil, 252. 
Mahogany, to take out white 

marks from, 274. 
Marmalade, (pine apple,) 168. 
Marmalade pudding, 113. 
Marrow pudding, 123. 
Medicated prunes, 291. 
Meringued apples, 154. 
Meringues, (rose,) 202. 
Meringues, (whipt cream,) 203. 
Merino, to braid, 330. 
Merino dresses, to work in cross 

stitch, 330. 
Merino, to embroider, 333. 
Mice, 280. 
Milk of roses, 259. 
Millefleurs perfume, 253. 
Minced beef, 72. 
Minced veal, (excellent,) 62. 
Mince meat, (very fine,) 137. 
Mince meat, (temperance,) 138. 
Mince pudding, 121. 
Molasses cake, 227. 
Molasses bread-cake, 228. 
Molasses gingerbread, 226. 
Molasses, to prevent a jug of i 

from running over, 294. 
Muff, to keep, 312. 
Muflins, (bread,) 188—229. 
Mushrooms, with birds, 98. 
Mushroom omelet, 43. 
Mutton cutlets, stewed, 60. 
Mutton, (fillet of,) 59. 

4U7 



INDEX. 



Nectar, 235. 

Nice family dinners for spring, 

377. 
Nice family dinners for summer, 

378. 
Nice family dinners for autumn, 

379. 
Nice family dinners for winter, 

381. 
Nice way of cooking game, 98. 
Notions, 235. 

Oil, (antique,) 253. 

Oil of cassia, 253. 

Oil, (Macassar,) 252. 

Oil, to extract it fron? h floor or 

hearth, 274. 
Olives, (beef,) 75. 
Olives, (pork,) 79. 
Onion custard, 57. 
Opodeldoc, 270. 
"Orange flummery, 152. 
Orange jelly, (tine,) 171. 
Orange juice, to keep, 245. 
Oranges and lemons, to keep, 247. 
Orange marmalade, (fine,') 170. 
Orange milk, 236. 
Orange puflfs, 202. 
Orange syrup, 237. 
Orange tarts, 14. 
Orleans pudding, 108. 
Oysters, broiled, 30. 
Oysters and fowls, 88. 
Oyster loaves, 28. ^ 

Oyster omelet, 28. 
Oyster pie, (French,) 80. 
Oysters and sweetbreads, 68. 
Oyster suppers, 393. 
Oyster toast, 30. 

Pain in the feet, to allay, 283. 
Paint, to remove from the wall of 

a room, 275. 
Palmer cakes, 214. 
Paper knife, to use, 346. 
Parchment glue, 256. 
Parsnips, to keep fresh., 248. 
Partridges in pears, 96. 
Partridge snlmi, 97. 
468 



Paste, (gum Arabic,) 258. 

Paste, (light,) 140. 

Paste, (transparent,) 139. 

Paste, (perpetual,) 257. 

Patterns, cutting them out, 325. 

Patties, (chicken and turkey,) 62, 

Patties, (lobster,) 32. 

Peaches, (brandy, fine,) 179. 

Peaches, (brandy, excellent,) 179- 

Peaches, (brandy, the French 
way,) 181. 

Peach cakes, 199. 

Peaches, (dried,) to stew, 184. 

Peach ice cream, 160. 

Peach jam, 177. 

Peach pickles, 56, 

Peaches, preserved, (very fine,) 
179. 

Peach wine, 231. 

Pears, (brandy,) 180. 

Peas, with lettuce, 48. 

Peas, (French way,) 48. 

Peas, stewed, 47. 

Perfume, (millefleurs,) 253. 

Perpetual paste, 251. 

Persicot, 235. 

Phials, to remove the odour from, 
267. 

Piano, marking its keys, 345. 

Pictures, taking care of, 313. 

Pie, (clam,) 31. 

Pie, (French ham,) 85. 

Pie, (giblet,) 103. 

Pie, (raised French,) 100. 

Pie, (rice,) 100. 

Pie, (thatched house,) 99. 

Pie, (tongue,) 86. 

Pigeons with ham, 102. 

Pigeon soup, 13. 

Pigs' feet, fried, 79. 

Pine-apples, an easy way of pre- 
serving, 168. 

Pine-apples, the best way of pre^ 
serving, 169. 

Pine-apple marmalade, 1 68. 

Pine-apple pudding. 111. 

Pistachio cream, 156. 

Plate powder, 271. 

Plain dinners for spring, 3C9. 



INDEX. 



Plain dinners for summer, 371. 
Plain dinners for autumn, 373. 
Plain dinners for winter, 375. 
Plum-water ice, 158. 
Pomatum, (excellent,) 259. 
Pork, (Italian,) 78. 
Pork olives, 79. 
Portrait painter's travelling box, 

314. 
Potatoes, to stew, 50. 
Potatoes, to improve when old, 51. 
Pota toe-flour pudding, 130. 
Pot-pie, (beef steak,) 71. 
Potted ham, 85. 
Powder for cleaning gold lace, 

271. 
Prickly-heat, cure for, 288. 
Prunes, (American,) 183. 
Prunes, (medicated,) 291. 
Pudding, (almond rice), 112. 
Pudding, almond, boiled, 112. 
Pudding, biscuit, 1 13. 
Pudding, charlotte, 126. 
Pudding, cherry, 118. 
Pudding, chicken, (rice,) 91. 
Pudding, chocolate, 127. 
Pudding, Columbian, 107. 
Pudding, corn meal, (excellent,) 

114. 
Pudding, cottage, 117. 
Pudding, cream cocoa-nut, 110. 
Pudding, currant, 118. 
Pudding, gooseberry, 118. 
Pudding, ground rice, (excellent,) 

124. 
Pudding, Hanover, 109. 
Pudding, Indian, (fine,) 116. 
Pudding, lady's, 127. 
Pudding, lemon, boiled, 129. 
Pudding, maccaroni, 128. 
Pudding, Marietta, 108. 
Pudding, marmalade, 113. 
Pudding, marrow, 123. 
Pudding, mince, 121. 
Pudding, moorfowl, or grouse, 103. 
Pudding, Orleans, 108. 
Pudding, potatoe-flour, 130. 
Pudding, raspberry, 117. 
Pudding, raisin, 120. 



Pudding, tapioca, 123. 
Pudding, temperance, (plum,) 

120. 
Pudding, transparent, 123. 
Pudding, Turkish, (rice,) 110. 
Pudding, venison, 82. 
Pudding, venison and chestnut, 

83. 
Pumpkin mush, 368. 
Putting away woollens, 309. 

Quinces, 170. 

Rabbit soup, 10. 
Rabbits, (French stew,) 84. 
Raisin pudding, 120. 
Raspberry cordial, (fine,) 239. 
Raspberry pudding, 117. 
Raspberry vinegar, (fine,) 240. 
Raspberry vinegar,(French,) 241. 
Red cabbage, stewed, 39. 
Red custard, 131. 
Red lip-salve, 284. 
Remedy for arsenic, 290. 
Rennets, 63. 

Rheumatic pains, relief for, 284. 
Rhubarb bitters, 294. 
Rhubarb cups, 147 
Ribbon sack, 316. 
Rice-bread, 189. 
Rice-flour bread, 196. 
Rice-flour batter cakes, 190. 
Rice croquettes, 92. 
Rice-flour pound cake, 210. 
Rice sponge cake, 211. 
Rice pie, 100. 

Rice pudding, (chicken,) 91. 
Rice pudding, (Turkish,) 110. 
Ring?, brooches, &c., to clean, 270. 
Ripe currant pudding, 118. 
Rissoles, (lobster,) 34. 
Rissoles, (veal,) 64. 
Rock-fish, stewed, 25. 
Rolls, (long,) 19. 
Rolls, (potatoe,) 191. 
Rose meringues, 202. 
Rosolis, 234. 

Run-round, cure for, 285, 
Rye batter cakes, 187. 
409 



INDEX. 



Salmon, baked, 20. 

Salmon, stewed, 19. 

Salmon, roasted, 20. 

Salmon-trout, baked, 23. 

Salt of lemon or stain-powder, 

262. 
Sandwiches, (biscuit,) 85. 
Sauce for mutton that has been 

boiled in soup, 17. 
Scolloped tomatoes, 44. 
Sea-bass with tomatoes, 22. 
Sea-voyage gingerbread, 225. 
Shad, to keep without corning, 26. 
Sheep's-head fish, (or turbot,) 

baked, 22. 
Sheep's-head fish, (or turbot,) 

boiled, 21. 
Shoe-bag, (a lady's,) 317. 
Shoes or boots, to render water- 
proof, 274. 
Shoulder of veal, (French way,) 

62. 
Silk dress, to clean, 300. 
Silk shawls or scarfs, to wash, 

299. 
Silks, French method of washing 

them, 300. 
Silk dress, to strengthen its hem, 

326. 
Silver, to clean expeditiously, 

272. 
Silver, a good way of cleaning, 

271. 
Silver,to keep always bright271. 
Smoked beef, to stew, 74. 
Soap, (Columbian,) 255. 
Soap, to perfume, 255. 
Souflfle pudding, 125. 
Soup, almond, 16. 
Soup, autumn, 4. 
Soup, chicken, 11. 
Soup, clam, (excellent,) 14. 
Soup, clam, (fine,) 13. 
Soup, cocoa-nut, 15. 
Soup, duck, 12. 
Soup, French white soup, 15. 
Soup, rabbit, 10. 
Soup, spring, 3. 
Soup, summer, 4. 
470 



Soup, turtle, 34. 

Soup, winter, 5. 

Soup-meat, 17. 

Spanish blanc-mange, 147. 

Spiced gingerbread, 225. 

Spermaceti, to* take out of a hfearlh 

or floor, 274. 
Spinach, (French way,) 48. 
Spinach, stewed, 45. 
Sprained ankle, relief for, 284. 
Stains, to remove from silver, 270. 
Standards, to embroider, 336. 
Stove-hearth, to remove grease 
from, 274. 

Strawberries, an excellent way 
of preserving, 176. 

Strawberry cakes, 198. 

Strawberry -water ice, 159. 

Sugar cake, 227. 

Summer hearth, 341. 

Sunderlands, or jelly-puffs, 146. 

Suppers, (oyster,) 393. 

Supper-parties, 392, 

Sweetbreads with cauliflowers, 
67. 

Sweetbreads with clams, 68. 

Sweetbread croquettes, 65. 

Sweet])read onielet, 69. 

Sweetbreads with oysters, 68. 

Sweetbreads with tomatoes, 66. 

Sweetmeat dumplings, 248. 

Sweetmeat fritters, 133. 

Sweet omelet, 145. 

Sweet potatoe cake, 212. 

Sweet potatoe pone, 189. 

Syllabub cake, 151. 

Sydney Smith's salad-dressing,51. 

Tabouret, (directions for making 

one,) 339. 
Tapioca pudding, 123. 
Tarragon sauce, 54. 
Tea parties, 390. 
Temperance mince-meat, 138. 
Temperance plum pudding, 121 
Terrapin veal, 63. * 
Tetter, cure for, 287. 
Thatched house ^ie, 99. 



INDEX, 



Thread lace, to make it look al- 
ways new, 302. 
Toast water, 243. 
Tokay wine, (domestic,) 333. 
'J'oraato chickens, 90. 
Tomato sweetbreads, 66. 
Tongue pie, 86. 
Tongue, toast, 84. 
Tooth-powder, 256. 
Towel-case, to make, 318. 
Transparent paste, 139. 
Transparent pudding, 123. 
Trout with cream, 23. 
Turkey, boned, 104. 
Turkey patties, 91. 
Turkish rice pudding, 110. 
Turtle, to dress, 34. 

Vanilla blanc-mange, 148. 

Vanilla cream, 157. 

Vanilla flummery, 153. 

Vanilla syrup, 236. 

Veal, (fillet of,) corned, 61. 

Veal, loaf, 60. 

Veal, minced, (excellent,) 62. 

Veal olives, 64. 

Veal, shoulder of, (French way,) 

62. 
Veal dressed as terrapin, 63. 
Venison pie, 80. 
Venison pie, (plain,) 81. 
Venison pudding, 82, 
Venison chestnut pudding, 83. 
Vial, to remove the odour from, 

267. 
Vinegar, (good,) 241. 



Vinegar, (molasses,) 242. 
Vinegar, (raspberry, French,)241. 
Vinegar, (raspberry, very fine,) 

240. y 

Wall paper, to take oflT, 275. 

M'^ashing chintzes, 307. 

Washing black-lace, 305. 

Washing coloured cravats, &c.^ 
309. 

Washington fritters, 134. 

Water-ice, (cherry, 159. 

Water-ice, (damson,) 159. 

Water-ice, (gooseberry,) 159. 

Water-ice, (plum,) 158. 

Water-ice, (strawberry,) 159. 

West India cocoa-nut cake, 210. 

Whalebone and hooks, 324. 

White fi-icassee, 93. 

White lace scarf, to wash, 306. 

White fur, to clean, 312. 

White satin ribbon, to wash, 298. 

White- wash brushes, to clean, 
264. 

Whipt cream meringues, 203. 

Wild ducks, stewed, 94. 

Wine fritters, 135. 

W^inter soup, 5. 

Wonders, 215. 

Woollens, to put away, 309 

Working slippers, 327. 

Worms in garden walks, to de- 
stroy, 281. 

Yellow colouring for wails, 264. 
Young corn omelet, 39. 



ADDITIONAL RECEIPTS. 



Almond ice-cream, 429. 

— Another way, 430. 
Alpistera?, (Spanish cake,) 439. 
Apple jelly, (excellent,) 432. 
Apple pudding, (Yankee,) 405. 
Apple tapioca, 416. 

Asparagus, (a nice way of cookiner,) 443. 
A.'^paragus.(f rench way of dressing,) 443. 
Autumn leaves, 425. 
Axjar pickies, 448. 
Backwoods pot-pie, 487. 
lieans, (pickled,) 450. 
Buans and poas, (to keep,) 452. 



Beef gumbo, 445. 

Beef-steak pot-pie, 411. 

Boston rye and Indian bread, 4G2. 

Breakfast rolls, 414. 

Brine for bacon and ham, 447. 

Buckwheat batter pudding, 414. 

Buckwheat cake.s, (excellent,) 476 

Buckwheat porridge, 416. 

Buena Vista cake, 395. 

Cabbage, (frit-d.) 446. 

Cabbage, pickled, (excellent,) 407. 

Cabbage soap, (fine,) 40G. 

Canvas- back ducks, — to broil, 424. 

471 



ADDITIONAL RECEIPTS. 



Carolina grits, or small hominy, 491. 
Carolina corn cakes, 480. 
Carolina rice cakes, 480. 
Carolina waj' of boiling rice, 442. 
Caiilitiower, to fry, 446. 
Cherries, (pickled,) 452. 
Chocolate ice cream, 430. 

— Another way, 431. 
Charlotte russe, (chocolate,) 429. 
Charlotte russe, (lemon,) 428. 
Charlotte russe, (Madeira,) 427. 
Charlotte russe, (orange.) 428. 
Charlotte russe, (rose,) 428. 
Chicken pot-pie, 41 2. 
Cinnamon bread, 399. 

Cold pudding, — to cook, 417. 

Corn, (Indian,) to boil, 487. 

Corn-meal breakfast cakes, 474. 

Corn-meal pudding, (baked,) 485. 

Corn-meal yeast cakes, (dried,) 457. 

Corn oysters, 489. 

Corn porridge, 489. 

Corns,— relief for, 424. 

Currant raisin jam, 402. 

Curry balls, 444. 

Damssons or plums, (pickled,) 451. 

Dumplings, (green corn,) 488. 

Egg balls, 444. 

Egg pone, 4G3. 

Eggs, to keep, 418. 

Farina, 435. 

Tarina flummery, 436. 

— Another way, 437. 

— Another way, 437. 
Farma gruel, 436. 
Farina panada, 436. 
Farina pudding, (baked,) 436. 
Farina plum-pudding, 437. 
Farmer's Indian pudding, 483. 
Fig marmalade, 433. 

Filet gumbo, 406. 
Flummery, (red.) 434. 
French mustard, (fine,) 418. 
Frying fish, 448. 
Gazpacho, (Spanish,) 441. 
Green corn dumpling.i, 488. 
Guisada, (a Spanish stew,) 440. 
Hog's head cheese, 447. 
Hoe cake, (common.) 466. 
Hominy, 491. 
Hominy cakes, 491. 
Ire-cream, (almond,) 429, 430. 
Ice-cream, (lemon,) 431. 
Ice-cream, (orange,) 431. 
Icing, — warm, 3'J9. 

Indian batter cakes, (very plain,) 470. 
Indian bread, or pone, 4C0. 
Indian rye bread, 461. 
Indian wheat bread, 462. 
Indian corn, (for keeping,) 492. 
Indian crumpets, 474. 
Indian cup-cakes, 478. 
Indian griddle cake, 468. 
Indian dumplings, (very plain,) 469. 
Indian flappers, 473. 
Indian-meal gruel, 4C5. 
Indian hasty pudding 465. 
Indian light biscuit, 478 
Indian mush, 464. 
472 



Indian mufiina, 470. 

Indian boiled pudding, (v^ry niee^, 

484. 
Indian rice cakes, 475. 
Indian slap-jacks, 473. 
Johnny cake, (plain,) 468. 
Johnny cake, (very nice,) 469. 
Kentucky sweet cake, 479. 
Lancaster gingerbread, 398. 
Lard, (to prepare,) 446. 
Lemon honey, 401. 
Madison cake, 481. 
Madeira cake, 427. 
Madeira ham, 408. 
Melon marmalade, 404. 
Missouri cakes, 472. 
Mushrooms, — broiled, 412. 
Mushrooms pickled, (an easy way,) 413. 
Nantucket pudding, 482. 
Ochras, dried, 445. 
Oil for kitchen lamps, (cheap,) 423. 
Onion eggs, 444. 
Onions, to pickle, 451. 
Orange honey, 402. 
Ovens, hints on heating, 455. 
Peach mangoes, (fine,) 449. 
Pear marmalade, 433. 
Peppers, to pickle, 450. 
Pine-apples, — to keep without cooking, 

403. 
Pine-apple marmalade, (fine,) 403. 
Pisto omelette, (Spanish,) 440. 
Plums and damsons, (to preserve,) 

451. 
Polio valenciano, (Spanish,) 440. 
Pork and beans, (excellent,) 493. 
Pumpkin Indian calves, 475. 
Pumpkin Indian pudding, 486. 
Raisin currants, 402. 
Ited flummery, 434. 
Rice blancmange, 435. 
Rice waffles, 454. 
Rye batter cakes, (nice,) 477. 
Rye mush, 466. 
Roxbury tea cakes, 438. 
Saccatash, (for summer,) 489. 
Saccatash, (for winter,) 490. 
Samp, 491. 
Samp pudding, 483. 
Scotch short cake, 453. 
Silk, — new waj' of washing, 421. 
Snow cream, 4f)0. 
Spanish salad, 441. 
Spermaceti, — to extract, 423. 
Stair-carpets, — to save, 421, 
Terra firma, 417. 
Terrapin potrpie, 410. 
Terrapins, — a new way of dressing 

409. 
Tomato marmalade, 405. 
Tomato marmalade, 433. 
Tomato paste, 445. 
Virginia griddle cakes, 471. 
Wafer cakes, (fine,) 397. 
Washington pudding, 419. 
Wine jelly, 431. 

Yeast cakes, (dried corn-meal,) 457. 
Yeast, (excellent home-made,) 466. 
Yeast powders, 396. 



PUBLISHED BY 

HENRY CAEEY BAIRD, 

INDUSTRIAL PUBLISHER, 

PHILADELPHIA. 



< » > • » 



53=* Any of the following Books will be sent by mail, free 
of postage, at the publication price. Catalogues furnished 
on application. 



-<■»♦♦» 



American Miller and Millwright's Assistant: 

A new and thorouglily revised Edition, with additional 
Engravings. By William Carter Hughes. In one vol- 
ume, 12 mo., $1.00 

Aruiengaud, Amoroux, and Johnson. 

THE PRACTICAL DRAUGHTSMAN'S BOOK OF INDUS- 
TRIAL DESIGN, and Machinist's and Engineer's Drawing 
Companion ; forming a complete course of Mecliauical 
Engineering and Architectural Drawing. From the French 
of M. Armengaud the elder. Prof, of Design in the Con- 
servatoire of Arts and Industry, Paris, and MM. Armen- 
gaud the younger, and Amouroux, Civil Engineers. Re- 
written and arranged, with additional matter and plates, 
selections from and examples of the most useful and 
generally employed mechanism of the day. By William 
Johnson, Assoc. Inst. C. E., Editor of ''The Practical 
Mechanic's Journal." Illustrated by fifty folio steel 
plates and fifty wood-cuts. A new edition, 4to.,....$7.50 
Among the contents are -.—Linear Drawing, Definitions and Problems, 
Plate I. Applications, Designs for inlaid Pavements, Ceilings and 
Balconies, Plate XL Sweeps, Sections and Mouldings, Plate III. Ele 
mentary Gothic Forms and Rosette«, Plate IV. Ovals, Ellipses, 



PKACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

Parabolas and Volutes, Plate V. Rules and Practical Data. Stvdy o* 
Projectiovs, Elementary Principles, Plate VI. Of Prisms and other 
Solids, Plate VII. Rules and Practical Data. On ColoHng Sections, with 
Applicnti07is— Conventional Colors, Composition or Mixture of Colors, 
Plate X. Continuation of the Study of Projections— \J&e of sections — de- 
tails of machinery, Plate XI. Simple applications— spindles, shafts, 
couplings, wooden patterns, Plate XII. Method of constructing a 
wooden model or pattern of a coupling, Elementary applications- 
rails and chairs for railways, Plate XIII. Rules and Practical Data- 
Strength of material, Resistance to compression or crushing force, 
Tensional Resistance, Resistance to flexure, Resistance to torsion, 
Friction of surfaces in contact. 

The Intersection and Development qf Svrfaces, with Ap- 
plications. — The Intersection of Cylinders and Cones', Plate XIV. The 
Delineation and Development of Helices, Screws And Serpentines, Plate 

XV. Application of the helix— the construction of a staircase, Plate 

XVI. The Intersection of surfaces — applications to stop-cocks, Plate 

XVII. Rules and Practical Da/a— Steam, Unity of heat. Heating surface, 
Calculation of the dimensions of boilers, Dimensions of tiregratea. 
Chimneys, Safety-valves. 

The Study and Construction of Toothed Gear.— Involute, cy- 
cloid, and epicycloid, Plates XVIII. and XIX. Involute, Fig. 1, Plate 

XVIII. Cycloid, Fig. 2, Plate XVIII. External epicycloid, described 
by a circle rolling about a fixed circle inside it, Fig. 3, Plate XIX. 
Internal epicycloid, Fig. 2, Plate XIX. Delineation of a rack and 
pinion in gear. Fig. 4, Plate XVIII. Gearing of a worm with a worm- 
wheel. Figs. 5 and 6, Plate XVIII. Cylindrical or Spur Gearing, Plate 

XIX. Practical delineation of a couple of Spur-wheels, Plate XX. 
The Delineation and Construction of Wooden Patterns for Toothed Wheels, 
Plate XXI. Rules and Practical Data — Toothed gearing, Angular and 
circumferential velocity of wheels. Dimensions of gearing. Thickness 
of the teeth. Pitch of the teeth. Dimensions of the web, Number and 
dimensions of the arms, wooden patterns. 

Continuation of the Study of Toothed Gear. — Design for a 
pair of bevel-wheels in gear, Plate XXII. Construction of wooden 
patterns for a pair of bevel-wheels, Plate XXIII. Involute and 
Helical Teeth, Plate XXIV. Contrivances for obtaining Differential 
Movements — The delineation of eccentrics and cams, Plate XXV. Rules 
and Practical Dato— Mechanical work of effect, The simple machines,^ 
Centre of gravity. On estimating the power of prime movers, Calcu- 
lation for the brake. The fall of bodies, Momentum, Central forces. 

Elementary Principles of Shadows. — Shadows of Prisms, Pyra^ 
mids and Cylinders, Plate XXVI. Principles of Shading, Plate XXVII. 
Coniinualion of the Study of Shadows, Plate XXVIII. Tuscan Order, 
Plate XXIX. Rules and Practical Data — Pumps, Hydrostatic principles, 
Forcing pumps. Lilting and forcing pumps. The Hydrostatic press, 
Hydrostatical calculations and data — discharge of water through dif- 
ferent orifices. Gaging of a water-course of uniform section and fall, 
Velocity of the bottom of water-courses. Calculation of the discharge 
of water through rectangular orifices of narrow edges. Calculation of 
the discharge of water through overshot outlets, To determine the 
width of an overshot outlet, To determine the depth of the outlet, 
Outlet with a spout or duct. 

Application of Shadows to Toothed Gear, Plate XXX. Ap- 
plication of Shadows to Sa-ews, Plate XXXI. Application of Shadows to 
a Boiler and its Furnace, Plate XXXII. Shading in Black — Shading in 
Colors, Plate XXXIII. 

The Cutting and Shaping of Masonry, Plate XXXIV. Rules 
and Practical Data — Hydraulic motors, Undershot water wheels, with 
plane floats and a circular channel. Width, Diameter, Velocity, Num- 
ber and capacity of the buckets. Useful efffect of the water wheel, 
Overshot water wheels, Water wheels with radial floats, Water wheel 
With curved buckets. Turbines. Remarks on Machine Tools. 
2 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 

The Study of Machinery and Sketching. — Various applications 
and combinations : The Sketching of Machinery, Plates XXXV. and 
XXXVI. Drilling Machine; Motive Machines; Warter wheels, Con- 
struction and setting up of water wheels, Delineation of water wheels, 
Design for a water wheel. Sketch of a water wheel ; Overshot Water 
mieels. Water Pumps, Plate XXXVII, Steam Motors; High-pressure 
expansive steam engine. Plates XXXVIII., XXXIX. and XL. Details 
of Construction ; Movements of the Distribution and Expansion Valves ; 
Rules and Practical Data — Steam engines : Low-pressure condensing 
engines without expansion valve. Diameter of piston. Velocities. 
Steam pipes and passages, Air-pump and condenser, Cold-water and 
feed-pumps. High-pressure expansive engines, Medium pressure con- 
densing and expansive steam engine, Conical pendulum or centrifugal 
governor. 

Oblique Projections. — Application of rules to the delineation of 
an oscillating cylinder, Plate XLI. 

Parallel Perspective. — Principles and applications, Plate XLII. 

True Perspective. — Elementary principles, Plate XLIII. Appli- 
cations—flour mill driven by belts. Plates XLIV. and XLV. Descrip- 
tion of the mill, Representation of the mill in perspective, Notes of 
recent improvements in flour mills, Schiele's mill, Mullin's " ring mill- 
stone," Barnett's millstone, Hastie's arrangement for driving mills, 
Currie's improvements in millstones ; Rules and Practical Data — Work 
performed by various machines, Flour mills, Saw mills, Veneer-sawing 
machines. Circular saws. 

Examples of Finished Drawings of Machinery.— Plate A, 
Balance water-meter ; Plate B, Engineer's shaping machine ; Plate 
C D E, Express locomotive engine ; Plate F., Wood planing machine ; 
Plate G, Washing machine for piece goods ; Plate H, power loom ; 
Plate I, Duplex steam boiler ; Plate J, Direct-acting marine engines. 

Drawing Instruments. 

Barnard (Henry). National Education in Eu- 
rope ; 

Being an Account of the Organization, Administration, 
Instruction, and Statistics of Public Schools of diflfer- 
ent grades in the principal States. 890 pages, 8vo., 
cloth, $3.00 

Barnard (Henry). School Architecture. 

New Edition, 300 cuts, cloth, $2.00 

Beans. A Treatise on Railroad Cnrves and the 
Location of Railroads. 

By E. W. Beans, C. E. 12mo. (In press.) 

Bishop. A History of American Manufactures, 

From 1608 to 1860 ; exhibiting the Origin and Growth 
of the Principal Mechanic Arts and Manufactures, from 
the Earliest Colonial Period to the Present Time ; with a 

3 



fracticaIj and scientific books, 

Notice of the Important Inventions, Tariffs, and the Re- 
sults of each Decennial Census. By J. Leander Bishop, 
M. D, : to which is added Notes on the Principal Manu- 
facturing Centres and Remarkable Manufactories. By 
Edward Young and Edwin T. Freedley. In two vols., 
8vo. Vol. 1 now ready. Price, $3.00 

Bookbinding : A Manual of the Art of Book- 
binding, 

Containing full instructions in the different branches of 
Forwarding, Gilding and Finishing. Also, the Art of 
Marbling Book-edges and Paper. By James B. Nicholson. 
Illustrated. 12mo., cloth, $1.75 

CONTENTS.— Sketch of the Progress of Bookbinding, Sheet- 
work, Forwarding the Edges, Marbling, Gilding the Edges, Covering, 
Half Binding, Blank Binding, Boarding, Cloth-work, Ornamental Art, 
Finishing, Taste and Design, Styles, Gilding, Illuminated Binding, 
Blind Tooling, Antique, Coloring, Marbling, Uniform Colors, Gold 
Marbling, Landscapes, etc.. Inlaid Ornaments, Harmony of Colors, 
Pasting Down, etc.. Stamp or Press-work, Restoring the Bindings of 
Old Books, Supplying imperfections in Old Books, Hints to Book Col- 
lectors, Technical Lessons. 

Booth and Morfit. The Encyclopedia of 
Chemistry, Practical and Theoretical i 

Embracing its application ta.the Arts, Metallurgy, Mine- 
ralogy, Geology, Medicine, and Pharmacy, By James C. 
Booth, Melter and Refiner in the United States Mint ; 
Professor of Applied Chemistry in the Franklin Institute, 
etc.; assisted by Campbell Morfit, author of "Chemical 
Manipulations," etc. 7th. Edition. Complete in one 
volume, royal octavo, 978 pages, with numerous wood 
cuts and other illustrations, $5.00 

From the very large number of articles in this volume, it is entirely 
impossible to give a list of the Contents, but attention may be called 
to some among the more elaborate, such as Affinity, Alcoholometry, 
Ammonium, Analysis, Antimony, Arsenic, Blowpipes, Cyanogen, Dis- 
tillation, Electricity, Ethyl, Fermentation, Iron, Lead and Water. 

Brewer; (The Complete Practical.) 

Or Plain, Concise, and Accurate Instructions in the Art 
of Brewing Beer, Ale, Porter, etc., etc., and the Process 
of Making all the Small Beers. By M. Lafayette Bykn, 

M. D. With Illustrations. 12mo $1.00 

*■' Many an old brewer will find in this book valuable hints and sug- 
4 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD, 



gestions worthy of consideration, and the novice can post himself up 
in hi9' trade in all its p&rta.^'— Artisan. 

Biiilder^s Pocket Companion: 

Containing tlie Elements of Building, Surveying, and 
Architecture ; with Practical Rules and Instructions con- 
nected with the subject. By A. C. Smeaton, Civil Engi- 
neer, etc. . In one volume, 12mo., $1.00 

CONTENTS.— The Builder, Carpenter, Joiner, Mason, Plasterer, 
Plumber, Painter, Smith, Practical Geometry, Surveyor, Cohesive 
Strength of Bodies, Architect. 

" It gives, in a small space, the most thorough directions to the 
builder, from the laying of a brick, or the felling of a tree, up to the 
most elaborate production of ornamental architecture. It is scientific, 
without being obscure and unintelligible ; and every house-carpenter^ 
master, journeyman, or apprentice, should have a copy at hand 
always."— jB«e}a?iy BuUttin. 

Byrne. The Handbook for the Artisan, Me- 
chanic, and Engineer, 

Containing Instructions in Grinding and Sharpening of 
Cutting Tools, Figuration of Materials by Abrasion, Lapi- 
dary Work, Grem and Glass Engraving, Varnishing and 
Lackering, Abrasive Processes, etc., etc. By Oliver 
Byrne. Illustrated with 11 large plates and 185 cuts. 
8vo., cloth, $5.00 

CONTENTS.— Grinding Cutting Tools on the Ordinary Grind- 
stone ; Sharpening Cutting Tools on the Oilstone ; Setting Razors ; 
Sharpening Cutting Tools Avith Artificial Grinders ; Production of Plane 
Surfaces by Abrasion ; Production of Cylindrical Surfaces by Abra- 
sion ; Production of Conical Surfaces by Abrasion ; Production of 
Spherical Surfaces by Abrasion ; Glass Cutting ; Lapidary Work ; 
Setting, Cutting, and Polishing Flat and Rounded Works ; Cutting 
Faucets ; Lapidary Apparatus for Amateurs ; Gem and Glass Engrav- 
ing ; Seal and Gem Engraving ; Cameo Cutting ; Glass Engraving, 
Varnishing, and Lackering ; General Remarks upon Abrasive Pro- 
cesses ; Dictionary of Apparatus ; Materials and Processes for Grinding 
and Polishing commonly employed in the Mechanical and Useful Arts. 

rue. The Practical MelaI'Worker\s Assist- 
ant, 

For Tin-plate Workers, Braziers, Coppersmiths, Zinc- 
plate Ornrmenters and Workers, Wire Workers, White- 
smiths, Blacksmiths, Bell Hangers, Jewellers, Silver and 
Gold Smiths, Electrotypers, and all other Workers in 
Alloys and Metals. Edited by Oliver Byrne. Complete 
in one volume, octavo, $7.50 

It treats of Casting, Founding, and Forging; of Tongs and other 
Tools; Degrees of Heat and Management of Fires; Welding of 

5 



By 



PKACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

Heading and Swage Tools ; of Punches and Anvils ; of Hardening and 
Tempering; of Malleable Iron Castings, Case Hardening, Wrought 
and Cast Iron ; the Management and Manipulation of Metals and 
Alloys, Melting and Mixing ; the Management of Furnaces, Casting 
and Founding with Metallic Moulds, Joining and Working Sheet Metal ; 
Peculiarities of the different Tools employed ; Processes dependent on 
the ductility of Metals ; Wire Drawing, Drawing Metal Tubes, Solder- 
ing ; The use of the Blowpipe, and every other known Metal Worker's 
Tool. 

Bvrae. The Practical Model Calculator, 

• . ' 

For the Engineer, Machiuist, Manufacturer of Engine 
Work, Naval Architect, Miner, and Millwright. By 
Oliver Byrne, Compiler and Editor of the Dictionary of 
Machines, Mechanics, Engine Work and Engineering, and 
Author of various Mathematical and Mechanical Works. 
Illustrated hy numerous engravings. Complete in one 
large volume, octavo, of nearly six hundred pages,. .$3. 50 

The principal objects of this work are : to establish model calcula- 
tions to guide practical men and students ; to illustrate every practical 
rule and principle by numerical calculations, systematically arranged ; 
to give information and data indispensable to those for whom it is in- 
tended, thus surpassing in value any other book of its character ; to 
economize the labor of the practical man, and to render his every-day 
calculations easy and comprehensive. It will be found to be one of 
the most complete and valuable practical books ever published. 

Cabinetmaker's and Upholsterer's Companion, 

Comprising the Rudiments and Principles of Cabinet - 
making and Upholstery, with Familiar Instructions, il- 
lustrated by Examples for attaining a proficiency in the 
Art of Drawing, as applicable to Cabinet Work ; the 
processes of Veneering, Inlaying, and Buhl Work ; the 
Art of Dyeing and Staining Wood, Bone, Tortoise Shell, 
etc. Directions for Lackering, Japanning, and Varnish- 
ing ; to make French Polish ; to prepare the best Glues, 
Cements, and Compositions, and a number of Receipts 
particularly useful for Workmen generally. By J. Stokes. 
In one volume, 12mo. With Illustrations, 75 

" A large amount of practical information, of great service to all 
concerned in those branches of business." — Ohio State Journal. 

('ampion. A Practical Treatise on Mechanical 
Engineering ; 

Comprising Metallurgy, Moulding, Casting, Forging Tools, 
Workshop Machinery, Mechanical Manipulation, Manu- 
facture of Steam Engine, etc., etc. Illusy-ated with 28 
plates of Boilers, Steam Engines, Workshop Machinery, 

6 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 

etc., and 91 Wood Engravings ; with an Appendix on the 
Analysis of Iron and Iron Ores. By Francis Camp-on, 
C. E , Pi'esident of the Civil and Mechanical Engineers' 
Society, etc. [In press.) 

Celuart. The Perfumer. 

From the French of Madame Celnart ; with additions by 
Professor H. Dussauce. 8vo. {In press.) 

Colburn. The Locomolive Engine ; 

Including a Description of its Structure, Rules for Esti- 
mating its Capabilities, and Practical Observations on its 
Construction and Management. By Zerah Colbukn. Il- 
lustrated. A new edition. 12mo,....! • 75 

" It is the most practical and generally useful work on the Steam 
Engine that we have seen." — Bof,to7i TravtUr." 

Daguerreolypist and Photographer^ s Companion. 

12mo., cloth, $1.00 

Distiller (The Complete Practical). 

By M. Lafayette Byrit, M.D. With Illustrations. 12mo. 

$1.00 

" So simplified, that it is adapted not only to the use of extensive 
Distillers, but for every farmer, or others who may want to engage in 
Distilling." — Banntr of the Union. 

Dussaiice. Practical Treatise 

On the Fabrication of Matches, Gun Cotton, and Fulmi- 
nating Powders. By Prof. H. Dussauce. {In press.) 

CONTENTS.— -Pfto52^ftorws. —History of Phosphorus; Physical 
Properties ; Chemical Properties ; Natural State ; Preparation of 
White Phosphorus ; Amorphous Phosphorus, and Benoxide of Lead. 
Mutches. — Preparation of Wooden Matches ; Matches inflammable by 
rubbing, without noise ; Common Lucifer Matches : Matches without 
Phosphorus ; Candle Matches ; Matches with Amorphous Phospho- 
rus ; Matches and Rubbers without Phosphorus. Gun Cotton. — Proper- 
ties ; Preparation ; Paper Powder ; use of Cotton and Paper Powders 
for Fulminating Primers, etc.; Preparation of Fulminating Primers, 
etc., etc. 

Dussauce. Chemical Receipt Book: 

A General Formulary for the Fabrication of Leading 
Chemicals, and their Application to the Arts, Manufac- 
tures, Metallurgy, and Agriculture. By Prof. H. Dus- 
sauce. {In press.) 

7 



PEACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

DYEING, CALICO PEINTING, COLOES, COTTON SPIN- 
NING, AND WOOLEN MANUFACTURE. 

Baii'd. The American Cotton Spinner, and 
Manager's and Carder's Guide: 

A Practical Treatise on Cotton Spinning ; giving the Di- 
mensions and Speed of Machinery, Draught and Twist 
Calculations, etc.; with Notices of recent Improvements : 
together with Rules and Examples for making changes 
in the sizes and numbers of Roving and Yarn. Com- 
piled from the papers of the late Robert H. Baird. 

12mo $1.25 

> 

Capron De Dole. Dussance. Blues and Car- 
mines of Indigo: 

A Practical Treatise on the Fabrication of every Commer 
cial Product derived from Indigo. By Felicien Capron 
de Dole. Translated, with important additions, by Pro- 
fessor H. Dussauce. 12mo $2..'>0 

Chemistry Applied to Dyeing. 

By James Napier, F. C. S. Illustrated. ]2mo $2.00 

CONTENTS.— G^ewemZ Propei-ties of Mrtfter.— Heat, Light, Ele- 
ments of Matter, Chemical Afflnitj\ Non-MdalLU: Substances. — Oxygen, 
Hjdrogen, Nitrogen, Chlorine, Sulphur, Selenium, Phosphorus, Iodine, 
Bromine, Fluorine, Silicum, Boron, Carbon. Metallic Substances. — 
General Properties of Metals, Potassium, Sodium, Lithium, Soap, 
Barium, Strontium, Calcium, Magnesium, Alminum, Manganese, Iron, 
Cobalt, Nickel, Zinc, Cadmium, Copper, Lead, Bismuth, Tin, Titanium, 
Chromium, Vanadium, Tungstenum or Wolfram, Molybdenum, Tella- 
rium. Arsenic, Antimony, Uranium, Cerium, Mercury, Silver, Gold, 
Platinum, Palladium, Iridium, Osmium, Rhodium, Lanthanium. Moi-- 
dants. — Red Spirits, Barwood Spirits, Plumb Spirits, Yellow Spirits, 
Nitrate of Iron, Acetate of Alumina, Black Iron Liquor, Iron and Tin • 
for Royal Blues, Acetate of Copper. Vegetable Matters used in Dyeing. — 
Galls, Sumach, Catechu, Indigo, Logwood, Brazil-woods, Sandal-wood, 
Barwood, Camwood, Fustic, Young Fustic, Bark or Quercitron, Fla- 
vine. Weld or Wold, Turmeric, Persian Berries, Safilovver, Madder, 
Munjeet, Annota, Alkanet Root, Archil. Proposfd New Vegetable 
Dyes. — Sooranjee, Carajuru, Worigshy, Aloes, Pittacal, Barbary Root. 
Animal Matters used in Dyeing. — Cochineal, Lake or Lac, Kerms. 

This will be found one of the most valuable books on the subject of 
dyeing, ever published in this country. 

Dussauce. Treatise on the Coloring Matters 
Derived from Coal Tar; 

Their Practical Application in Dyeing Cotton, Wool, and 



PUBLISHED BY HE^NTIIY CAREY BAIRD. 



Silk ; the Principles of the Art of Dyeing and of the Dis- 
tillation of Coal Tar; with a Description of the most Im- 
portant New Dyes now in use. By Professor H. Dus- 
sauce, Chemist. 12mo A2.50 

COWTENTS.-Historical Notice of the Art of Dyeing-Chemical 
Principles of the Art of Dyeing— Preliminary Preparation of Stutts— 
Mordants— Dyeing— On the Coloring Matters produced by Coal Tar— 
Distillation of Coal Tar— History of Aniline— Properties of Aniline- 
Preparation of Aniline directly from Coal Tar— Artificial Preparation 
?■ A'^Vine— Preparation of Benzole— Properties of Benzole— Prepara- 
tion of Nitro-Benzole- Transformation of Nitro-Benzole into Aniline, 
bj' means of Sulphide of Ammonium ; by Nascent Hydrogen ; by Ace- 
tate of Iron ; and by Arsenite of Potash— Properties of the Bi-Nitro- 
Benzole— Aniline Purple— Violine — Roseine-Emeraldine- Bleu de 
Pans— Futschine, or Magenta— Coloring Matters obtained by other 
bas£-3 from Coal Tar— Nitroso-Phenyline— Di Nitro-Aniline— Nitro- 
Phenyline— Picric Acid— Rosolic Acid— Quinoline— Napthaline Colors 
--Chloroxynaphthalic and Perchloroxynapthalic Acids— Carminaph- 
tha— Ninaphthalamine— Nitrosonaphthaline— Naphthamein— Tar Red 
—Azuhne— Application of Coal Tar Colors to the Art of Dyeing and 
Calico Printing— Action of Light on Coloring Matters from Coal Tar 
—Latest Improvements in the Art of Dyeing— Chrysammic Acid— Mo- 
lybdic and Picric Acids— Extract of Madder— Theory of the Fixation 
of Coloring Matters in Dyeing and Printing— Principles of the Action 
of the most important Mordants— Aluminous Mordants— Ferruginous 
Mordants— Stanniferous Mordants— Artificial Alizarin— Metallic Hy- 
posulphites as Mordants— Dyer's Soap— Preparation of Indigo for Dye- 
ing and Printing— Relative Value of Indigo— Chinese Green Murexide. 

Dyer and Color-fflaker's Companion : 

Containing upwards of two hundred Receipts for making 
Colors, on the most approved principles, for all the 
various styles and fabrics now in existence ; with the 
Scouring Process, and plain Directions for Preparing, 
Washing-off, and Finishing the Goods. Second edition. 
In one volume, 12mo 75 

French Dyer, (The) : 

Comprising the Art of Dyeing in Woolen, Silk, Cotton, 
etc., etc. By M. M. Riffaalt, Vernaud, De Fonteuelle, 
Thillaye, and^Iallepeyre. {In press.) 

Love. The Art of Dyeing, Cleaning, Sconring, 
and Finishing, 

On the Most Approved English and French Methods ; 
being Practical Instructions in Dyeing Silks, Woolens 
and Cottons, Feathers, Chips, Straw, etc.. Scouring and 
Cleaning Bed and Window Curtains, Carpets, Rugs, etc., 
French and English Cleaning, any Color or Fabric of 
Silk, Satin, or Damask. By Thomas Love, a working 

Dyer aud Scourer. In one volume, 12mo $3.00 

9 



PRACTICAL AK'D SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

O'Neill. Chemistry of Calico Printing, Dye- 
ing, and Bleacliing ; 

Including Silken, Woolen, and Mixed Goods ; Practical 
and Theoretical. By Charles O'Neill. (In press.) 

O'Neill. A Dictionary of Calico Printing and 
Dyeing. 

By Charles O'Neill. (In press.) 

Scott. Tlie Practical Cotton-spinner and Man- 
ufacturer ; 

Or, The Manager and Overlooker's Companion. This 
work contains a Comprehensive System of Calculations 
for Mill Gearing and Machinery, from the first Moving 
Power, through the different processes of Carding, Draw- 
ing, Slabbing, Roving, Spinning, and Weaving, adapted 
to American Machinery, Practice and Usages. Compen- 
dious Tables of Yarns and Reeds are added. Illustrated 
by large Working-Drawings of the most approved Anieri- 
cau Cotton Machinery. Complete in one volume, oc- 
tavo $3.50 

This edition of Scott's Cotton-Spinner, by Oliver Byrne, is designed 
for the American Operative. It will be found intensely practical, and 
will be of the greatest possible value to the Manager, Overseer, and 
Workman. • 

Sellers. The Color-mixer. 

By John Sellers, an Experienced Practical Workman. 
To which is added a Catechism op Chemistry. In one 
volume, 12mo. (In press.) 

• 

Smith. The Dyer's Instructor; 

Comprising Practical Instructions in the Art of Dyeing 
Silk, Cotton, Wool and Worsted, and Woolen Goods, as 
Single and Two-colored Damasks, Moreens, Camlets, 
Lastings, Sliot Cobourgs, Silk Striped Orleans, Plain Oi*- 
leans, from White and Colored Warps, Merinos, Woolens, 
Yarns, etc; containing nearly eight hundred Receipts. 
To which is added a Treatise on the Art of Padding, and 
the Printing of Silk Warps, Skeins and Handkerchiefs, 
and the various Mordants and Colors for the diflferent 
10 



PUBLISHED BY HENKY CAREY BAIRD. 



styles of such work. By David Smith, Pattern Dyer. 
A new edition, in one volume, 12mo $3.00 

CONTENTS.— Wool Dyeing, 60 receipts— Cotton Dyeing, 68 re- 
ceipts — Silk Dyeing, 60 receipts — Woolen Yarn Dyeing, 69 receipts — 
Worsted Yarn Dyeing, 51 receipts — Woolen Dyeing, 52 receipts — Da- 
mask Dyeing, 40 receipts — Moreen Dyeing, 33 receipts — Two-Colored 
Damask Dyeing, 21 receipts— Camlet Dyeing, 23 receipts — Lasting Dye- 
ing, 23 receipts — Shot Cobourg Dyeing, 18 receipts— Silk Striped Or- 
leans, from Black, White, and Colored Warps, 23 receipts — Colored 
Orleans, from Black Warps, 15 receipts — Colored Orleans and Co- 
bourgs, from White Warps, 27 receipts — Colored Merinos, 41 receipts 
— Woolen Shawl Dyeing, 15 receipts — Padding, 42 receipts — Silk Warp, 
Skein, and Handkerchief Printing, 62 receipts — Nature and Use of Dye- 
wares, including Alum, Annotta, Archil, Ammonia, Argol, Super 
Argol, Camwood, Catechu,. Cochineal, Chrome, or Bichromate of Pot- 
ash, Cudbear, Chemic, or Sulphate of Indigo, French Berry, or Persian 
Berry, Fustic or Young Fustic, Galls, Indigo, Kermes or Lac Dye, 
Logwood, Madder, Nitric Acid or Aqua Fortis, Nitrates, Oxalic Tin, 
Peachwood, Prussiate of Potash, Quercitron Bark, Safflower, Saun- 
ders or Red Sandal, Sapan Wood, Sumach, Turmeric, Examination of 
Water by Tests, etc., etc. 

Toustain. A Practical Treatise on tlie Woolen 
Manufacture. 

From the Fi*ench of M. Toustain. (/n press.) 

Ulricli. Dussauce. A Complete Treatise 

On the Aet of Dyeing Cotton and Wool, as practised in 
Paris, Rouen, Mulhouse and Germany. From the French 
of M. Louis Ulrich, a Practical Dyer in the principal 
Manufactories of Paris, Rouen, Mulhouse, etc., etc. ; to 
which are added the most important Receipts for Dyeing 
Wool, as practised in the Manufacture Imperiale des 
Gobelins, Paris. By Professor H. Dussauce. 12mo..$3.00 

CONTE3NTS.- 

Rouen Dyes, 106 Receipts. 

Alsace " 235 " 

German " 109 " 

Mulhouse " 72 " 

Parisian '• 56 " 

Gobelins » 100 » 
In all nearly 700 Receipts. 



Easton. A Practical Treatise on Street or 
Horse-power Railways; 

Their Location, Construction and Management ; with 
general Plans and Rules for their Organization and Ope- 
ration ; together with Examinations as to their Compara- 



11 



PBACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

tive Advantages over the Omnibus System, and Inquiries 
as to their Value for Investment ; including Copies of 
Municipal Ordinances relating thereto. By Alexander 
Easton, C. E. Illustrated by twenty-three plates, 8vo., 
cloth $2.00 

Examinations of Drugs, Medicines, Ciiemicals, 
etc., 

As to their Purity and Adulterations. By C. H. Peirce, 
M. D. 12mo., cloth $2.00 

Fislier's Photogenic Manipulation. 

16mo., cloth 62 

Gas and Ventilation; 

A Practical Treatise on Gas and Ventilation. By E. E. 
Perkins. 12mo., cloth 75 

Gilbart. A Practical Treatise on Banking. 

By James William Gilbart, F. R. S. A new enlarged and 
improved edition. Edited by J. Smith Romans, editor 
of " Banker's Magazine." To which is added '* Money," 
by H. C. Carey. 8vo $3.00 

Gregory's Mathematics for Practical Men; 

Adapted to the Pursuits of Surveyors, Architects, Me- 
chanics and Civil Engineers. 8vo., plates, cloth. ..$1.50 

Hardwich. A Manual of Photographic Chem- 
istry ; 

Including the practice of the Collodion Process. By J. 
F. Hardwich. (^In press.) 

Hav. The Interior Decorator; 

« 
The Laws of Harmonious' Coloring adapted to Interior 
Decorations ; with a Practical Treatise on House Paint- 
ing. By D. R. Hay, House Painter and Decorator. Il- 
lustrated by a Diagram of the Primary, Secondary and 
Tertiary Colors. 12mo. {In press.) 
12 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 

Inveiitor's Guide— Patent Office and Patent 
Laws : 

Or, a Guide to Inventors, and a Book of Reference for 
Judges, Lawyers, Magistrates, and others. By J. Gr. 
Moore. 12mo., cloth $1.00 

Jenis. Railway Property. A Treatise 

On the jCoxsTRucTrox and Management of Railways ; de- 
signed to afford useful knowledge, in the popular style, 
to the holders of this class of property ; as well as Rail- 
way Managers, Officers and Agents. By John B. Jervis, 
late Chief Engineer of the Hudson River Railroad, Cro- 
ton Aqueduct, etc. One volume, 12nio., cloth $1.50 

CONTENTS. — Preface — Introduction. Construction. — Introduc- 
tory—Land and Land Damages— Location of Line— Method of Business 
—Grading— Bridges and Culverts— Road Crossings— Ballasting Track- 
Cross Sleepers— Chairs and Spikes— Rails— Station Buildings— Loco- 
motives, Coaches and Cars. Operating. — Introductory — Freight— Pas- 
sengers-Engine Drivers— Repairs to Track— Repairs of Machinery- 
Civil Engineer — Superintendent— Supplies of Material— Receipts— Dis- 
bursements — Statistics — Running Trains — Competition — Financial 
Management— General Remarks. 

Johnson, The Coal Trade of British America; 

With Researches on the Characters and Practical Values 

of American and Foreign Coals. By Walter R. Johnson, 

Civil and Mining Engineer and Chemist. 8vo $2.00 

This volume contains the results of the experiments made for the 
Navy Department, upon which their Coal contracts are now based. 

Johnston. Instrnctions for the Analysis of 
Soils, Limestones and Manures. 

By J. F. W. Johnston. 12mo 38 

Larkin. The Practical Brass and Iron Found- 
er's Guide; 

A Concise Treatise on the Art of Brass Founding, Mould- 
ing, etc. By James Larkin. 12mo., cloth $1.00 

Leslie's (Miss) Complete Cookery; 

Directions for Cookery in its Various Branches. By Miss ' 
Leslie. 58th thousand. Thoroughly revised ; with the 
addition of New Receipts. In one volume, 12mo., half 

bound, or in sheep $1.00 

13 



PBACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

Leslie's (Miss) Ladies' House Book; 

A Manual of Domestic Economy. 20th revised edition. 
12mo., sheep ...$1.00 

Leslie's (Miss) Two Hundred Receipts in 
^ French Cookery, 

Cloth, 12mo 25 

Lieber. Assayer's Guide; 

Or, Practical Directions to Assayers, Miners and Smelters, 
for the Tests and Assays, by Heat and by Wet Processes, 
of the Ores of all the principal Metals, and of Gold and 
Silver Coins and Alloys. By Oscar M. Lieber, late Geolo- 
gist to the State of Mississippi. 12mo. With illustra- 
tions 75 

"Among the indispensable works for this purpose, is this little 
guide." — Artizan. 

Lowig. Principles of Organic and Physiologi- 
cal Chemistry. 

By Dr. Carl Lowig, Doctor of Medicine and Philosophy ; 
Ordinary Professor of Chemistry in the University of 
Zurich ; Author of *' Chemie des Organischen Verbindun 
gen." Translated by Daniel Breed, M. D., of the U. S. 
Patent Office ; late of the Laboratory of Liebig and Low'g. 
8vo., sheep $3.50 

Marble Worker's Manual; 

Containing Practical Information respecting Marbles in 
general, their Cutting, Working and Polishing, Veneer- 
ing, etc., etc. 12mo., cloth $1.00 

Miles. A Plain Treatise on Horse-shoeing. 

With Illustrations. By William Miles, Author of ** The 
Horse's Foot." , 75 

Morfit. The Arts of Tanning, Currying and 
Leather Dressing. 

Theoretically and Practically Considered in all their De- 
tails ; being a Full and Comprehensive Treatise on the 
14 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 



Manufacture of tlie Various Kinds of Loatlior. Illus- 
trated by over two hundred Engravings. Edited from tlie 
French of De Fonteuelle and Malapeyere. With nu- 
merous Emendations and Additions, by Campbell Morfit, 
Practical and Analytical Chemist. Complete in one vol- 
ume, octavo $10.00 

This important Treatise will be found to cover the whole field in 
the most masterlj- manner, and it is believed that in no other branch 
of ap])lied science could more signal service be rendered to American 
Manufactures. 

The publisher is not aware that in any other work heretofore issued 
in this country, more space has been devoted to this subject than a 
single chai)ter ; and in offering this volume to so large and intelligent 
a class as American Tanners and Leather Dressers, he feels confident 
of their substantial support and encouragement. 

CONTENTS.— Introduction— Dignity of Labor— Tan and Tannin 
— Gallic Acid — Extractive-Tanning Materials — Oak Barks — Barking 
of Trees — Method of Estimating the Tanning Power of Astringent 
Substances — Tan — The Structure and Composition of Skin — Different 
Kinds of Skin suitable for Tanning — Preliminary Treatment of Skins % 
— Tanning Process — Improved Processes — Vauquelin's Process — Ac- 
celerating Processes — Keasley's, Trumbull's, Hibbard's, and Leprieur's 
Processes — Tanning with Extract of Oak-Bark — Hemlock Tanning — 
•With Myrtle Plant— English Harness Leather— Calf Slcins— Goat and 
Shee]) Skins — Horse Hides— Buck, Wolf and Dog Skins— Buffalo, or 
"Grecian" Leather — Russia Leather — Red Skins— Wallachia Leather 
— Mineral Tanning — Texture and Quality of Leather, and the means 
of Discovering its Defects — Tawing — Hungary Leather— Oiled Leather 
— Tanning as practised by the Mongol Tartars — Shagreen — Parchment 
— Leather Bottles — Tanning of Cordage and Sail Cloth— Glazed or 
" Patent" Leather — Helverson's Process for Rendering Hides Hard 
and Transparent — Currying— Currying of Calf Skins— Currying of 
Goat Skins — Red Leather — Fair Leather — Water Proof Dressing — 
Perkins' Machine for Pommelling and Graining Leather — Splitting, 
Shaving, Fleshing and Cleansing Machines — Embossing of Leather — 
Gut Dressing. 

Morfit. A Treatise on Cliemistry 

Applied to the Manufacture of Soap and Candles ; being 
a Thorough Exposition, in all their Minutiae, of the prin- 
ciples and Practice of the Trade, based upon the most 
recent Discoveries in Science and Art. Ey Campbell 
Morfit. Professor of Analytical and Applied Chemistry in 
the University of Maryland. A new and improved edi- 
tion. Illustrated with 260 Engravings on Wood. Com- 
plete in one volume, large 8vo li^G.OO 

CONTENTS.— CHAPTER L The History of the Art and its Rela- 
tions to Science — 11. Chemical Combination — III. Alkalies and Alka- 
line Earths — IV. Alkalimentary — V. Acids — VI. Origin and Composi- 
tion of Fatty Matters — VIT. Saponiflable Fats— Vegetable FKts— Ani- 
mal Fats — Waxes — VIII. Action of Heat and Mineral Acids of Fatty 
Matters — IX. Volatile or Essential Oils, and Resins — X. The Proxi- 
mate Principles of Fats — Their Comi)Osition and Properties — Basic 
Constituents of Fats— XI. Theory of Saponification — XII. Utensils 
Requisite for a Soap Factory — XIII. Preparatory Manipulations in 
the Procesa of Making Soap— Preparation of the Lyes— XIV. Hard 

15 



PRACTICAL AND SCIEITTIFIC BOOKS, 

Soaps— XV. Soft Soaps— XVI. Soaps by the Cold Process— XVII. Sili- 
cated Soaps— XVIII. Toilet Soaps— XIX. Patent Soaps— XX. Fraud 
and Adulterations in the Manufacture of Soap— XXI. Candles— XXII. 
Illumination— XXIII. Philosophy of Flame— XXIV. Raw Material 
for Candles— Purification and Bleaching of Suet— XX V. Wicks— XX VI. 
Dipped Candles— XXVII. Moulded Candles— XXVIII. Stearin Candles 
—XXIX. Stearic Acid Candles—" Star" or " Adamantine" Candles— 
Saponification by Lime— Saponification by Lime and Sulphurous Acid 
— Saponification by Sulphuric Acid — Saponification by the combined 
action of Heat, Pressure and Steam— XXX. Spermaceti Candles— 
XXXI. Wax Candles— XXXII. Composite Candles— XXXIII. Paraffin 
—XXXIV. Patent Candles— XXXV. Hydrometers and Thermometers. 

Morlimer. Pyroteclmist's Companion; 

Or, a Familiar System of Fire-works. By G. W. Morti- 
mer, Illustrated by numerous Engravings. 12mo... 75 

Napier. Manual of Electro-Metallurgy; 

p Including the Application of the Art to Manufacturing 
Processes. By James Napier. From the second London 
editiola, revised and enlarged. Illustrated by Engrav- 
ings. In one volume, 12mo §1.50 

Napier's Electro-Metallurgy is generally regarded as the very best 
Practical Treatise on the Subject in the English Language. 

CONTENTS.— History of the Art of Electro-Metallurgy— Descri])- 
tion of Galvanic Batteries, and their respective Peculiarities — Elec- 
trotype Processes — Miscellaneous Applications of the Process of Cost- 
ing with Copper — Bronzing — Decomposition of Metals upon one 
another — Electro- Plating — Electro-Gilding — Results of Experiments 
on the Deposition of other Metals as Coatings, Theoretical Observa- 
tions, 

Norris's Hand-book for Locomotive Engineers 
and Machinists; 

Comprising the Calculations for Constructing Locomo- 
tives, Manner of setting Valves, etc., etc. By Septimus 
Norris, Civil and Mechanical Engineer. In one volume, 
12mo., with Illustrations $1.50 

" With pleasure do Ave meet with such a work as Messrs. Norria 
and Baird have given us." — Artizan. 

"In this work he has given us what are called 'the secrets of the 
business,' in the rules to construct locomotives, in order that the mil- 
lion should be learned in all things," — Scientific American. 

Nystrom. A Treatise on Screw-Propellers and 
their Steam-Engines ; 

With Practical Rules and Examples by which to Calcu- 
late and Construct the same for any description of Ves- 
sels. By J. W, Nystrom. Illustrated by over thirty 
large Workiug Drawings. In one volume, octavo. ..$3. 50 
1(> 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CAREY BAIRD. 

Overman. The Manufaclure of Iron in all its 
Various Branches ; 

To which is added an Essay on the Manufacture of Steel. 
By Frederick Overman, Mining Engineer. With one 
hundred and fifty Wood Engravings. Third edition. In 
one volume, octavo, five hundred pages $G.OO 

" We have now to announce the appearance of another valuable 
work on the subject, which, in our humble opinion, supplies any defi- 
ciency which late improvements and discoveries may have caused, 
from the lapse of time since the date of ' Mushet' and ' Schrivenor,' 
It is the production of one of our Trans-Atlantic brethren, Mr. Fred- 
erick Overman, Mining Engineer ; and we do not hesitate to set it 
down as a work of great importance to all connected with the iron in- 
terests ; one which, while it is sufficiently technological fully to ex- 
plain chemical analysis, and the various phenomena of iron under 
ditferent circumstances, to the satisfaction of the most fastidious, is 
written in that clear and comprehensive style as to be available to the 
capacity of the humblest mind, and consequently will be of much ad- », 
vantage to those works where the proprietors may see the desirability 
of placing it in the iiands of their operatives." — London Mining 
Journal. 

Painter, Gilder and Varnisher's Companion; 

Containing Rules and Regulations in everything relating 
to the Arts of Painting, Gilding, Varnishing and Glass 
Staining ; with numerous useful and valuable Receipts ; 
Tests for the detection of Adulterations in Oils and 
Colors ; and a statement of the Diseases and Accidents to 
which Painters, Gilders and Varnishers are particularly 
liable, with the simplest methods of Prevention and 
Remedj^. Eighth edition. To which are added Complete 
Instructions in Graining, Marbling, Sign Writing, and 
Gilding on Glass. 12mo., cloth 75 

Paper-Hanger's (Tlie) Companion; 

In which the Practical Operations of the Trade are sys- 
tematically laid down ; with copious Directions Prepara- 
tory to Papering ; Preventions against the effect of Damp 
in Walls ; the various Cements and Pastes adapted to 
the several purposes of the Trade ; Observations and Di- 
rections for the Panelling and Ornamenting of Rooms, 
etc., etc. By James Arrowsmith. In one volume, 
12mo 75 

Practical (The) Surveyor's Guide; 

Containing the necessary information to make any per- 
son of common capacity a finished Land Surveyor, with- 

*17 



PBACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

out tlie aid of a Teacher. By Andrew Duncan, Land 
Surveyor and Civil Engineer. 12mo 75 

Having had an experience as a Practical Surveyor, etc., of thirty 
years, it is believed that the author of this volume possesses a thorough 
knowledge of the wants of the profession ; and never having met with 
any work sufficiently concise and instructive in the several details 
necessary for the proper qualification of the Surveyor, it has been his 
object to supply that want. Among other important matters in the 
book, will be found the following: 

Instructions in levelling and profiling, with a new and speedy plan 
of setting grades on rail and plank roads — the method of inflecting 
curves — the description and design of a new instrument, whereby dis- 
tances are found at once, without any calculation — a new method of 
surveying any tract of land by measuring one line through it — a geo- 
metrical method of correcting surveys taken with the compass, to fit 
them for calculation — a short method of finding the angles from the 
courses, and vice versa — the method of survej'ing with the compass 
through any mine or iron works, and to correct the deflections of the 
needle by attraction — description of an instrument by the help of 
which any one may measure a map by inspection, without calculation 
— a new and short method of calculation, wherein fewer figures are 
used — the method of correcting the diurnal variation of the needle 
— various methods of plotting and embellishing maps — the most cor- 
rect method of laying off plots with the pole, etc.— description of a 
new compass contrived by the author, etc., etc. 

Railroad Engineer's Pocket Companion for the 
Field. 

By W. Griswold. 12mo., tucks $1.00 

Riddeil. The Elements of Handfiaiiing; 

Being the most Complete and Original Exposition of this 
Branch of Carpentry that has appeared. By Robert 
Riddeil. Third edition. Enlarged and improved. Il- 
lustrated by 22 large plates. 4to., cloth $3.00 



Rural Clieffiistry; 



An Elementary Introduction to the Study of the Science, 
in its relation to Agriculture and the Arts of Life. By 
Edward Solly, Professor of Chemistry in the Horticul- 
tural Society of London. From the third improved Lon- 
don edition. 12mo $1.25 



. Slmnk. A Practical Treatise 



Ok Railway Curves, and Location for Young Ekgineers. 
By Wm. F. Shunk, Civil Engineer. I'^mo $1.0(1 

Strength and Other Properties of Metals; 

Reports of Experiments on the Stnuigth and other Pro- 

18 



PUBLISHED BY HENKY CAREY BAIRD. 

perties of Metals for Cannon. With a Description of the 
Machines for Testing Metals, and of the Classification of 
Cannon in service. By Officers of the Ordnance Depart- 
ment U. S. Army. Bj authority of the Secretary of 
War. Illustrated by 25 large steel plates. In one vol- 
ume, quarto $10.00 

* The best Treatise on Cast-iron extant. 

Tables Showing the Weight 

Of Rounp, Square and Flat Bar Iron, Steel, etc., by 
Measurement. Cloth 50 

Taylor. Statistics of Coal; 

Including Mineral Bituminous Substances employed in 
Arts and Manufactures ; with their Geographical, Geo- 
logical and Commercial Distribution, and Amount of Pro- 
duction and Consumption on the American Continent. 
With Incidental Statistics of the Iron Manufacture. By 
R. C. Taylor. Second edition, revised by S. S. Halde- . 
man. Illustrated by five Maps and many Wood Engrav- 
ings. 8vo., cloth $6.00 

Teiiipleton. The Practical Examiiiator on 
Steam and the Steam Engine ; 

With Instructive References relative thereto, arranged 
for the use of Engineers, Students, and others. By Wm. 
Templeton, Engineer. 12mo 75 

This work was originally written for the author's private use. He 
was prevailed upon by various Engineers, who had seen the notes, to 
consent to its publication, from their eager expression of belief that 
it would be equally useful to them as it had been to himself. 

Tin and Sheet Iron Workers Instructor ; 

Comprising complete Descriptions of the necessary Pat- 
terns and Machinery, and the Processes of Calculating 
Dimensions, Cutting, Joining. Raising, Soldering, etc., 
etc. With numerous Illustrations. {In press,} 

Treatise (A) on a Box of Instruments, 

And the Slide Rule ; with the Theory of Trigonometry 
and Logarithms, including Practical Geometry, Survey '^ 
ing, Measuring of Timber, Cask and Malt Gauging, 

19 



PRACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 

Heights and Distances. By Thomas Kentish. In one 

volume, 12mo $1\00 

A volume of inestimable value to Engineers, Gaugers, Students, and 
others. 

Turn bull. The Electro-Magnetic Telegraph; 

With an Historical Account of its Rise, Progress, and 
Present Condition. Also, Practical Suggestions in regard 
to Insulation and Protection from the Eflfects of Light- 
ning. Together with an Appendix containing several 
important Telegraphic Devices and Laws. By Lawrence 
TurnbuU, M. D., Lecturer on Technical Chemistry at the 
Franklin Institute. Second edition. Revised and im- 
proved. Illustrated by numerous Engravings. 8vo..$2.00 

Tiiriier^s (The) Coiiipaiiioii ; 

Containing Instruction in Concentric, Elliptic and Eccen- 
tric Turning ; also various Steel Plates of Chucks, Tools 
and Instruments ; and Directions for Using the Eccentric 
Cutter, Drill, Vertical Cutter and Rest ; with Patterns 
and Instructions for working them. l;^mo., cloth 75 

Bell. Carpentry Made Easy; 

Or. The Science and Art of Framing, on a New and Im- 
proved System ; with Specific Instructions for Building 
Balloon Frames,' Barn Frames, Mill Frames, Warehouses, 
Church Spires, etc. ; comprising also a System of Bridge 
Building ; with Bills, Estimates of Cost, and Valuable 
Tables. Illustrated by 38 plates, comprising nearly 200 
figures. By William , E. Bell, Architect and Practical 
Builder. Svo $3.G0 



SOCIAL SCIENCE. 

THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY. 



" I challenge the production from among the writers on political 
economy of a more learned, ])hilosophical, and convincing speculator 
on that theme, than rtiy distinguished fellow-citizen, Henry C. Carey, 
riie works he has published in support of the protective policy, are 
remarkable for profound research, extensive range of inquiry, rare 
logical acumen, and a consummate knowledge of history.*' — Speech of 
Hon. Edward Joy Morris, in the House of Rej)resentatives of the United 
States, February 2, 1869. 
20 



PUBLISHED BY HENKY CABEY BAIKD. 



THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY. 

" Henry C. Carey, the best known and ablest economist of North 
America. ***** jn Europe he is i)rincij)ally known by his 
striking and original attacks, based upon the peculiar advantages of 
American experience, on some of the principal doctrines, especially 
Malthus' ' Theory of Population' and Ricardo's teachings. His views 
have been largely adopted and thoroughly discussed in Europe." — 
" The German Political Lexicon,^' Edited by Bluntschli and Brater. Leipsic, 
1868. 

*' We believe that your labors mark an era in the science of political 
economy. To your researches and lucid arguments are we indebted 
for the explosion of the absurdities of Malthus, Say, and Ricardo, ih 
regard to the inability of the earth to meet the demands of a growing 
population. American industry owes you a debt which cannot be re- 
paid, and which it will ever be proud to acknowledge. — From a Letter 
of Hon. George W. Scranton, M. C, Hon. William Jessup, and over sixty 
injluential citizens of Luzerne County^ Pennsylvania^ to Henry C. Carey, 
April 3, 1869. 

Financial Crises; 

Their Causes and Effects. 8vo., paper 25 

French and American Tariffs, 

Compared in a Series of Letters addressed to Mons. M. 
Chevalier. 8vo., paper 15 

Harmony (The) of Interests; 

Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commercial. 8vo., 

paper .'.... 75 

Cloth $1.25 

" We can safely recommend this remarkable work to all Avho wish 
to investigate the causes of the progress or decline of industrial com- 
munities." — Blackwood's Magazine. 

Letters to the President of the United States. 

8vo., Paper...; 50 

Miscellaneous Works; 

Comprising ''Harmony of Interests," "Money," ''Let- 
ters to the President," "French and American Tariffs," 
and " Financial Crises." One volume, 8vo., half bound. 

$2.25 

Money; A Lecture 

Before the New York Geographical and Statistical So- 
ciety. 8vo., paper 15 

21 



PRACTICAIi AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 



THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY. 



Past (The), the Present, and the Future. 

8vo 82.00 

12mo $1.25 

•' Full of important facts bearing on topics that are now agitating 
all Europe. * * * These quotations will only whet the appetite 
of the scientific reader to devour the whole work. It is a book full of 
valuable information." — Economist. 

*' Decidedly a book to be read by all who take an interest in the pro- 
gress of social science." — Spectator. 

"A Southern man myself, never given to tariff doctrines, I confess to 
have been convinced by his reasoning, and, thank Heaven, have not 
now to learn the difTerence between dogged obstinacy and consistency. 
' Ye gods, give us but light !' should be the motto of every inquirer 
after truth, but for far ditferent and better purposes than that which 
prompted the exclamation." — The late John S. Skinner. 

" A volume of extensive information, deep thought, high intelli- 
gence, and moreover of material utility."— London Morning Advertiser. 

" Emanating from an active intellect, remarkable for distinct views 
and sincere convictions." — Britannia.' 

♦' ' The Past, Present, and Future,' is a vast summary of progressive 
philosophy, Avherein he demonstrates the benefit of political economy 
in the onward progress of mankind, which, ruled and directed by over- 
whelming influences of an exterior nature, advances little by little, 
until these exterior influences are rendered subservient in their turn, 
to increase as much as possible the extent of their wealth and riches." 
— Dictionnaire Universel des Contemporains. Far G, Vapereau. Paris^ 
1858. 

Principles of Social Science. 

Three volumes, 8vo., clotli $7.50 

CONTENTS.— Volume I. Of Science and its Methods— Of Man, 
the Subject of Social Science — Of Increase in the Numbers of Mankind 
—Of the Occupation of the Earth- Of Value— Of Wealth— Of the For- 
mation of Society — Of Appropriation — Of Changes of Matter in Place 
— Of M hanical and Chemical Changes in the Forms of Matter. Vol- 
ume II. Of Vital Changes in the Form of Matter — Of the Instrument 
of Assoc.ation. Volume III. Of Production and Consumption — Of 
Accumulation — Of Circulation — Of Distribution — Of Concentration 
and Centralization — Of Competition — Of Population — Of Food and 
Population— Of Colonization — Of the Malthusian Theory — Of Com- 
merce — Of the Societary Organization — Of Social Science. 

" I have no desire here to reproach Mr. Malthus with the extreme 
lightness of his scientific baggage. In his day, biology, animal and 
vegetable chemistry, the relations of the various portions of the hu- 
man organism, etc. etc., had made but little progress, and it is to the 
general ignorance in reference to these questions that we must, as I 
think, look for explanation of the fact that he should, with so much 
confidence, in reference to so very grave a subject, have ventured to 
suggest a formula so arbitrary in its character, and one whose hollow- 
ness becomes now so clearly manifest. Mr. Carey's advantage over 
him, both as to facts and logic, is certainly due in great part to the 
progress that has since been made in all the sciences connected with 
life ; but then, how admirably has he profited of them ! How entirely 
is he au courant of all these branches of knowledge which, whether 
22 



PUBLISHED BY HENRY CARE^ BAIRD. 



THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY. 

directly or indirectly, bear upon his subject ! With what skill docs he 
ask of each and every of them all that it can be made to furnish, 
whether of facts or arguments ! With what elevated views, and 
what amplitude of means, does he go forward in his work ! Above 
all, how thorough in his scientific caution ! Accumulating inductions, 
and presenting for consideration facts the most undoubted and i)roba- 
bilities of the highest kind, he yet affirms nothing, contenting himself 
with showing that his opponent had no good reason for alfirming the 
nature of the progression, nor the time of duplication, nor the gene- 
ralization which takes the facts of an individual case and deduces 
from them a law for every race, every climate, every civilization, 
every condition, moral or physical, permanent and transient, 
healthy or unhealthy, of the various poi)ulations of the many coun- 
tries of the world. Then, having reduced the theory to the level of a 
mere hypothesis, he crushes it to atoms under the weiglit of facts." — 
M. De Fontenay in the '■'■Journal des EcoTKjmistes.'" Paris, September, 1862. 

" This book is so abundantly full of notices, facts, comparisons, cal- 
culations, and arguments, that too much would be lost .by laying a 
part of it before the eye of the reader. The work is vast and severe 
in its conception and aim, and is far removed from the common ruq 
of the books on similar subjects." — 11 Mondo Letterario, Turin. 

" In political economy, America is represented by one of the 
strongest and most original writers of the age, Henry C. Carey, of 
Philadelphia. ************ 

" His theory of Rents is regarded as a complete demonstration that 
the popular views derived from Ricardo are erroneous ; and on the 
subject of Protection, he is generally confessed to be the master- 
thinker of his country." — Westminster Review. 

" Both in America and on the Continent, Mr. Henry Carey has ac- 
quired a great name as a political economist. * * » ♦ * 

" His refutation of Malthus and Ricardo we consider most triumph- 
ant." — London Critic. 

" Mr. Carey began his publication of Principles twenty years ago ; 
he is certainly a mature and deliberate writer. More than this, he is 
readable : his pages swarm with illustrative facts and with American 
instances. **»#**«**«»* 

" We are in great charity with books which, like Mr. Carey's, theo- 
rize with excessive boldness, when the author, as does Mr. Carey, 
possesses information and reasoning power." — London Athenccum. 

" Those who would fight against the insatiate greed and unscrupu- 
lous misrepresentations of the Manchester school, which we have fre- 
quently exposed, without any of their organs having ever dared to 
make reply, will find in this and Mr. Carey's other works an immense 
store of arms and ammunition. ******** 

•' An author who has, among the political economists of Germany 
and France, numerous readers, is worth attentive perusal in Eng- 
land." — London Statesman. 

" Of all the varied answers to the old cry of human nature, ' Who 
will show vxs any good?' none are more sententious than Mr. Carey's. 
He says to Kings, Presidents, and People, ' Keep the nation at work, 
and the greater the variety of employments the better.' He is seek- 
ing and elucidating the great radical laws of matter as regards man. 
He is at once the aj)ostle and evangelist of temporal righteousness." 
— National Intelligencer. 

" A work which we believe to be the greatest ever written by an 

American, and one which will in future ages be pointed out as the 
most successful effort of its time to form the great scientia scientiarwn.'^ 
'—Philadelphia Evening Bulletin. 

23 



PBACTICAL AND SCIENTIFIC BOOKS, 
THE WORKS OF HENRY C. CAREY. 

Tlie Slave Trade, Domestic and Foreign; 

Why it Exists, and How it maybe Extinguished. 12mo., 
cloth $1.25 

CONTENTS.— The Wide Extent of Slavery— Of Slavery in the 
British Colonies — Of Slavery in the United States — Of Emancipation 
in the British Colonies — How Man passes from Poverty and Slavery 
toward Wealth and Freedom — How Wealth tends to Increase — How 
Labor acquires Value and Man becomes Free — How Man passes from 
Wealth and Freedom toward Poverty and Slavery — How Slavery 
grew, and How it is now maintained in the West Indies — How Slavery 
^rew, and is maintained in the United States — How Slavery grows in 
Portugal and Turkey — How Slavery grows in India — How Slavery 
grows in Ireland and Scotland — How Slavery grows in England — 
How can Slavery be extinguished] — How Freedom grows in Northern 
Germany — How Freedom grows in Russia — How Freedom grows in 
Denmark — How Freedom grows in Spain and Belgium — Of the Duty 
of the People of the United States— Of the Duty of the People of Eng- 
land. 

" As a philosophical writer, Mr. Carey is remarkable for the union 
of comprehensive generalizations with a copious induction of facts. 
His research of principles never leads him to the neglect of details ; 
jior is his accumulation of instances ever at the expense of universal 
truth. He is, doubtless, intent on the investigation of laws, as the 
appropriate aim of science, but no passion for theory seduces him 
into the region of pure speculation. His mind is no less historical 
than philosophical, and had he not chosen the severer branch in 
which his studies have borne such excellent fruit, he would have 
attained an eminent rank among the historians from whom the litera- 
ture of our country has received such signal illustration." — New York 
Tribune. 



French PoliticO'Economic Controversy, 

Between the Supporters of the Doctrines of Caret and 
of those of RiCARDO and Malthds. By MM. De Fontenay, 
Dupuit, Baudrillart, and others. Translated from the 
"Journal des Economistes," 1862-63. {In press.) 

Protection of Home Labor and Home Produc- 
tions 

Necessary to the Prosperity of the American Farmer. 
By H. C. Baird. Paper 13 

Smith. A Manual of Political Economy. 

By E. Peshine Smith. 12mo., cloth $1.25 

24 



